Not a Love Song
by VeVe2491
Summary: A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

When Austin strode in to Sonic Boom he was not surprised by the sight before him. Ally was perched on the end of the piano bench, scribbling manically into her precious book, pausing ever now and again to try out a new tune on the piano. There was no doubt in his mind that this song was going to be a hit.

Ally gnawed at the eraser on the end of her pencil, and Austin smirked amusedly to himself.

"I thought you only ever chewed on your hair?"

Ally continued scribbling in her book, and for a moment Austin wondered if she had even heard him. He could tell by the slight movement of her lips that she was mumbling something to herself. Curious by his friend's actions Austin leant forward to hear what Ally was mumbling.

"I played it safe, kept my foot up on the brake. I never really took a chance in life…"

Austin stood erect and grinned. The new song was sounding so good. He debated joining Ally in writing his latest song, but decided against it as he caught sight of Trish and Dez bickering at the back of the store. He figured he had better head over and supervise the troublesome pair before they broke something and Ally got mad.

"No you Doof, you can't just crouch behind a bush and wait for him to walk out from the store. That's such a cheap shot," Trish huffed, before turning to greet Austin.

"It's called a strategy," Dez quipped. "Oh, hey buddy!" The red head grinned upon seeing Austin.

"What are you two planning?" Austin asked, quirking an eyebrow. If Trish was involved Austin felt genuinely concerned for the idiot who had crossed her.

"Nothing," Trish said, just as Dez replied with, "Pranking her boss."

"DEZ!" Trish snapped, smacking him over the head with her hand. "You said you wouldn't tell!"

Austin smirked. "Since when do you two have secrets?"

"We don't, but I knew that if I told you, you would tell Ally and then Ally would try to stop me."

The blonde opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it upon realising Trish was right. "And why are you pranking your boss?"

"Because he fired me."

"That probably has something to do with that ten minute break you took that lasted five hours," Austin offered.

Trish shrugged. "Whatever. He's still gonna feel my wrath."

Dez shuddered. "Your wrath hurts."

Austin nodded in agreement and Trish grinned triumphantly at them both.

"That'll teach you not to mess with Mama."

"I don't mess with you," Dez pointed out. "You just hurt me anyway."

Trish shrugged.

"Well, last week she did kind of have a reason to, you did leave your meatball sandwich in her bag."

"Oooh! That reminds me!" Dez yelped happily as he ran over to the tuba beside the metal stairs leading to the practice room. Dez reached into the tuba, his long arm disappearing briefly before emerging seconds later with a tuna sandwich clasped in his hand.

"Dez! There's no eating in the store!" Ally snapped, rushing over to him and snatching the sub out of his hand. "How many times do I have to tell you before you actually listen to me?" She asked tossing Dez's food into the trashcan behind the counter. "At least Austin seems to have conquered the habit."

"That's because he's whipped," Dez stated.

"He's what?" Ally asked.

Austin stared at his friend with wide eyes. "What? No I'm not!"

"Sure you are. Dallas said –"

"Why would you listen to anything Dallas says?" Trish asked. "He's almost as much of a doofus as you."

"Trish, play nice," Ally said playfully.

Dez nodded thankful for Ally's interference.

"Dallas is not a doof."

Both Austin and Dez frowned at this. Dez because he was hurt Ally hadn't been defending him, and Austin because he couldn't believe Ally was defending that doof Dallas.

"Ally, he is. Do you not remember when he worked here?"

Ally was about to reply but was cut off by a loud rumble of Dez's stomach.

"Dude! Was that you?" Austin asked, incredulous at the sound Dez's body had just made.

Dez nodded.

"Sweet!" Austin grinned high fiving his best friend, earning himself and Dez disgusted looks from both girls. "But Dez's stomach has a point. We're hungry."

"I'm pretty sure there's some food in the refrigerator upstairs. You can have that if you want. I on the other hand have a song to finish," Ally beamed happily as she made her way back over to the piano.

Austin and Dez glanced at each other before offering a quick nod. Ally wasn't going to be happy about this but she'd thank them later.

In the blink of an eye Austin had dashed across the room, pulled Ally up off of the piano bench and threw her over his shoulder.

"Austin! What are you doing? Put me down!"

"This is for your own good Ally," Austin replied. "Dez, you know what to do."

"Right," Dez mock saluted Austin and disappeared into the practice room.

"What?" Ally yelled confused. "Trish do something!"

"What?" Trish looked up from her phone. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't listening. Trent just sent me this really funny –"

"Trish!"

The young Latina had no time to answer before Austin sprang into action, running out of the music store with Ally over his shoulder.

"HELP!"

* * *

"Was there really any need to kidnap me?" Ally scowled across the booth at Austin.

Austin swallowed his mouthful of hamburger before replying. "Since it was for your own good, I don't think it constitutes as kidnapping."

"Kidnapping. The crime of unlawfully seizing and carrying away a person by force or fraud, or seizing and detaining a person against his or her will with an intent to carry that person away at a later time," Ally recited as though she were a human dictionary.

Trish rolled her eyes. "Would you just be quiet and eat your food?"

Ally did as she was told though continued to grumble into her spaghetti.

"Thank you," Trish said, happy her friend had finally stopped complaining. "Anyway, on a lighter note. Trent and I are going on a date this Saturday night, and Trent has a very single, very hot friend who was hoping I had a single friend who could join us." Trish nudged Ally with elbow teasingly.

"I don't know Trish…" Ally said, feeling uneasy. "I don't have the best track record when it comes to flirting." She shuddered at the memory of Jimmy Starr's Halloween party.

"You'll be fine. Elliot is a really great guy. Why else would Trent be friends with him?"

Ally opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Austin. "Ally can't go Saturday night."

"Why not?" Trish asked glaring at Austin.

"Because Ally scheduled that for our Austin and Ally time. We were gonna work on a new song."

"Well, Ally can work on a new song some other time. She's forever writing in that book of hers anyway. You can just reuse some old material. In the mean time however, Ally, what do you say? Will you please go on a double date with Trent and I?"

Ally sighed, knowing that this was battle with Trish she had clearly lost. "Sure. Why not? It might be good for me to get out there on the dating scene again."

Dez and Austin snickered between themselves.

"When were you ever on it?" Dez giggled through his mouthful of chicken potpie.

Ally scowled at her friends' laughter. "I'll have you know Ally Dawson wasn't all that innocent."

"Ally, you were gonna go as Florence Nightingale to Jimmy Starr's Halloween party," Trish pointed out.

"Well, that was recently. Back in the fifth grade –"

"Doesn't count," Trish interrupted. "You were ten years old. Therefore it wasn't dating."

"Sure it does. Dalton and I –"

The boys burst into sputters of laughter at this.

"Dalton?" Austin asked, his shoulders shaking with laughter. "Who names their kid Dalton?"

"Dalton is an English name and it means the town near the valley. Unlike Dez which means messy eater and Austin which means disgusting," Ally said as she surveyed the boys before her, their hands and mouths covered in ketchup and other food products.

"Awww!" Dez groaned. "I wanted to be disgusting."

"I wouldn't worry about that, you're nearly there," Trish grimaced.

"Anyway," Ally began, returning their conversation back to her past love, Dalton. "Dalton and I were together for four months."

"What went wrong?" Austin asked as he wiped away the mess on his face with his napkin.

Ally blushed. "That wasn't the point of this –"

"Dalton Snorkowitz," Trish cut in, allowing a momentary pause for the boys to laugh at the poor kids name. "Gave Ally here, a beautiful love letter for Valentine's day –"

Dez smiled lopsidedly. "Awwww."

"And then Ally broke his heart."

"You monster!" Dez roared, appalled at the songwriter.

"How come?" Austin asked expertly ignoring Dez's outburst.

"Because Ally simply took the letter, corrected all the spelling and grammar mistakes and gave it back."

"Poor Dalton was heartbroken," Ally commented. "He burst into tears right in front of me and ran off. I feel bad about that. I should call him and apologise and –"

"Not before you go on your date with Elliot," Trish interjected.

"I don't care about Elliot," Dez said waving off Trish's worries. "I want to know what happened to Dalton! Did he ever find love?"

Trish and Austin both stared at the redhead amused by his 'soft-side', whilst Ally smiled at him sympathising with his kind heart though not agreeing with Dez's thirst for gossip.

"Actually he's okay. He ignored me for the rest of elementary school and through most of middle school. Last I heard he moved away."

"That doesn't answer my question! Did he ever find love?"

"Yes Dez, he found love," Ally nodded slowly, not wanting to upset Dez further. The poor guy just go so enthused by everything and anything that it was hard trying to let him down gently. Dez would be heartbroken if he found out that actually Dalton hadn't dated since Trish had broken his thumbs in middle school because he refused to take her to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

"Awww," Dez grinned. "That's nice. And now Trish had found love with Trent. I've got Mindy, and Ally's got Elliot. This is shaping up quite nicely."

"Ally hasn't got Elliot," Austin piped up, a small crease forming between his eyebrows.

"That's what you care about?" Trish snapped at Austin. "What about Dez and Mindy? I thought he hated her."

"We are right here you know…"Ally pointed out. "There really isn't a need to talk about us in the third person.

"No, Dez doesn't hate Mindy. She just creeps him out," Austin explained. "A lot. But she makes really good chicken potpie."

"That's no reason for them to be together!" Trish snapped. "She's too clingy, and she's so blinded by her obsession for him that she'll let him get away with anything! Dez needs someone who will keep him in check, and won't let him get hurt by you crazy schemes."

"My crazy schemes?! You're the one who's roped him in to pranking your ex-boss!"

"He offered to do that!"

"And what about Ally, huh? You set her up with some guy neither of you know. He could be a psycho killer who likes chopping pretty girls up into tiny pieces!"

"You think Ally's pretty, huh?" Trish smirked no longer yelling.

"What? No."

"Dude, you did just call her pretty," Dez said earning himself a glare from Austin.

"No, I didn't."

"Does that mean you don't think I'm pretty?" Ally asked, feeling confused and somewhat hurt. She had lost track of Austin's and Trish's argument pretty quickly but she had hear him call her pretty.

"What? No! Of course I think you're pretty!" Austin babbled, not wanting to hurt Ally's feelings. "Beautiful even, I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea after the whole me going orange and sweaty and you being publicly humiliated and –"

"Austin," Ally said, cutting him off. She placed a comforting hand on his arm and smiled. "I get it, and no I didn't get the wrong idea. Of course, a guy like you could never like a girl like me."

Austin didn't have chance to ask her why she thought that because he was prevented by Dez reaching over and placing a hand on Trish's. This would not end well.


	2. Chapter 2

"He deserved it!" Trish snapped, sending a dirty look in Dez's direction across the store.

"No he didn't" Ally chided. "Dez got the wrong idea, and after what you said I think all of us were thinking the same thing as him. If you didn't like him you wouldn't have gotten so riled up about his relationship with Mindy, no matter how dysfunctional it may be."

"Ally that is not dysfunctional! That is plain weird! Dez doesn't like her; he liked the food she makes him."

"He's happy, she's happy. Just leave it alone."

"But Ally –"

"No Trish, it's not our place to interfere. "

"Fine. Not like I care anyway," Trish shrugged nonchalantly causing Ally to roll her eyes at her friend's ridiculousness. "But either way I am NOT apologising."

"Trish, his arm is bright red from where you twisted it. He was in pain, you need to apologise."

"No! He deserved it. Accusing me of liking him! Who does that freckle faced freak think he is? Why would I like him anyway? Pfft! Me like him! Why would anyone like him? I certainly wouldn't."

Ally frowned at Trish's harsh words which had accompanied her denial. Ally turned to look at Dez who was sat nursing his raw arm. Ally sighed, knowing she would have to take the high road for her viscous friend.

"Hey Dez," Ally said, her voice soft and comforting.

The redhead looked up at her and offered her a small smile that made Ally uneasy. She was used to Dez being loud, spontaneous and flamboyant, not sad, hurt and quiet.

"You okay?" She asked her voice even quieter now, the atmosphere around them was uncomfortable and all felt as though she had just witnessed someone kick a puppy.

There was a pause.

"Ally?"

"Yeah Dez?"

"Does Trish hate me?"

Ally shook her head fiercely. "No! No. N- Okay, maybe she dislikes you a teensy bit more than she hates most other people, but then she's Trish, right? She's hates a whole bunch of things."

Dez frowned. "That doesn't mean she has to be such a- such a – a bully!" Dez's eyes widened in shock of what he had just said. Dez did not like being mean, it was something that he could see no point in. He knew that he had a habit of saying things that could be considered mean but it wasn't intentional. It was just something he did. He was brutally honest.

"Trish isn't a bully she's… just naturally viscous…"

"No Ally. Naturally viscous is what Trish is when she's pranking her ex-boss. The way Trish treats me is what a bully does."

"Why would you – Oh my gosh," Ally stared at Dez is shock and sympathy. "Dez, have you been bullied before?"

"Trish may not mean what she says Ally. She may just be 'naturally viscous'. I can deal with the constant physical abuse but I don't like the things she says. They hurt. A lot."

Ally didn't know what to do. Part of her just wanted to rush forward and hug the boy, whilst the other wanted to run away from the ghost of the boy she thought she knew. Instead Ally took a tentative seat beside him and patted his shoulder in an awkward manner.

"Does Austin know?" She asked.

Dez shrugged. "I guess. If his mom ever told him that is."

"Do you, um, would you like to talk about it?"

"Shouldn't you be getting back to Trish?"

Ally turned to look over at the large steel stairs where she had left the Latina. "I think she'll be fine without me," She said gesturing to Trish who was alternating between texting and reading a magazine.

Dez sighed. "It was back in the first grade. Kids used to pick on me because I was, as my mom put it, 'different'. I didn't talk a lot back then and people used to find that weird, and when I did I used to hurt peoples feelings because I was too honest. After the first few weeks I realised I was better off by myself."

Ally nodded in understanding, she too would much rather be alone than with people who would constantly ridicule her for her differences.

"But because I was alone this meant the bullies could easily take advantage of me and make fun. Soon enough whenever our teacher, Mrs Tilscher's back was turned all the kids were making fun of me. The one day, words weren't enough. I tried running away from it but one of the kids caught up with me. He was pretty apologetic after he'd done it, almost as if he wasn't quite sure he'd actually done it. He tripped me up and I fell and landed awkwardly, breaking my arm."

Ally's heart broke for Dez in that moment. How could someone so happy, so smiley, so… Dez, have possibly gone through all of this?

"Thankfully my mom pulled me out school as soon as she found out what had been happening. I spent a year being home schooled, I guess my mom was afraid of it happening again. But I joined normal school again in the third grade, at a whole new school which is actually where I met Austin."

Ally removed her awkward patting hand from Dez's shoulder and instead wrapped it around his torso, pulling him to her in a warm embrace. "You shouldn't have had to go through any of that Dez. You know that right? None of that was your fault."

Dez smiled down at her. "I know that. Friends like you and Austin have shown me that, and I thought Trish had too."

"Dez, don't worry about it. Honestly, Trish treats everyone that way, eventually she'll get bored and find some other pray."

"How do you know?"

"Because if she didn't like you she wouldn't have got you involved in her prank to destroy her ex-boss, nor would she be so angry about you and Mindy. Just give her time to come around."

"Thanks Ally, you're the best," Dez grinned, his smile lighting up his entire face which in turn made Ally smile also. He tightened his grip around her and pulled her into a bear hug.

"I love you BFF," Ally smirked. "Best Freckled Friend."

"I love you too –"

"WHAT?"


	3. Chapter 3

Ally released Dez to turn and look at Austin who had just released a short shrill outburst as he had entered the store.

"Austin?"

"Don't 'Austin' me," He said sourly.

"But that's your name…?" Ally frowned confused as to why Austin was acting this way.

"When did you plan on telling me you and Dez were in love?!"

"What?!" Ally and Dez yelled in unison.

"Where did you get that idea from?" Ally asked, holding back a giggle.

"Dez just said he loved you too!"

"Yeah as a friend," Dez explained. "No offense to Ally but she's not my type."

"Thanks?"

"So she's all yours man," Dez said clapping Austin on the shoulder. Ordinarily Dez would have left Austin and Ally to sort out this dispute between themselves but since he didn't want to be around Trish he had no choice but to stay with the pair.

"What? I don't want Ally, pfft!" Austin scoffed. Dez rolled his eyes at the blatant lie but said nothing.

"Well, fine. I wouldn't want you either."

"Good, then I'm glad we're agreed on not wanting each other."

"Okay then."

"I guess we're done here."

"Seems so," Ally nodded before marching over to the cash register to prepare to reopen the store at the end of her lunch break.

They weren't done. They never were. This argument would come about again either today or the next because Austin kept putting his foot in his mouth and then so she didn't look like she cared Ally would say the same thing back. It was the same routine over and over. Not that either of them liked each other of course.

Dez looked down at his arm which was feeling a lot less raw than it had when they had left the Melody Diner. He was still going to have to get some ice on it though or his mom was certain to ask questions. Ever since the bullying incident all those years ago his mom had been on overprotective mode, maybe that was way she didn't yell at him when he destroyed her 'good china', because she didn't want to upset him.

In some ways Dez could appreciate all she did for him. She was his mom, obviously she was going to want to make sure he was safe and happy, but sometimes she went too far. Dez's dad however was the total opposite of his wife. After years of having stood on the sidelines allowing his wife to baby and protect their son from even the slightest hint of danger, he'd had enough. Dez's dad paid him to get out of the house and have fun. Dez's dad yelled at him when he misbehaved, didn't tidy his room or got an F on an assignment. Dez's dad treated him like a normal kid. His mom treated him as though he were a porcelain doll that could be broken at even the lightest touch.

Dez was shoved out of his thoughts of his parents by the obnoxious ring tone of Trish's cell phone. He grimaced, he knew even from the song exactly who was calling. Trent.

Dez hated Trent. He hated him with a burning fiery passion he had never felt for anyone in his life. Hate was a very strong word, and Dez had never felt it towards anyone, not even the kids who used to bully him, but against his beliefs Dez hated Trent. Worst of all, Dez had never met the kid but he already hated him. Right down to the ring tone Trish had selected to play each and every single time he called. Which as Dez had calculated, on average was seven times a day.

"_I wanna sex you up/All night/You make me feel real good"_

When Trish and Trent had first begun talking her ring tone had been a lot more, tame. Now four months on and Trish had adjusted it to suit her feelings towards him. Dez scowled as he remembered the song she had assigned him. _'__Run, run, run as fast as you can. __You'll never catch me, I'm the gingerbread man.' _Not that Dez minded, she had only done it in retaliation to the one he had assigned her.

"Hey baby," Trish cooed down the phone line. It amazed Dez how she could keep her tone so sweet when in reality she was glaring at him for pretending to vomit. No more pretend vomiting today, not for him anyway. There was no way Dez was giving her the satisfaction of believing she had been forgiven when she most certainly had not.

Trish held up her finger to signal one minute to her friends before disappearing off up the stairs to the practice room to continue her conversation in private.

"They sicken me," Dez said gruffly.

"I think it's kinda cute," Ally shrugged, surprising Dez who had been under the belief no one had heard him. "It's nice that Trish has someone who will treat her like she's royalty, and you can't complain because you have Mindy, remember?"

He didn't technically have Mindy though. He had Mindy's chicken potpie. Mindy and he were not an 'item', they were not a 'couple' and they certainly weren't each other's 'significant other'. No, what Dez and Mindy had was an arrangement. In return for Mindy giving him all the chicken potpie his heart so desired, Dez allowed Mindy to take pretend he was her boyfriend whenever she pleased. Which of late had not been all that often, she seemed to have her eyes on some other innocent soul who was equally addicted to chicken potpie as he was.

"I suppose," Dez grumbled. Another part of his arrangement with Mindy was that he was not allowed to discuss it with anyone. "I hate this whole love business. It stinks."

Austin nodded in agreement. "I think it's because of our age."

Ally shook her head. "Not necessarily. Love has a habit of stinking for older people too."

"Which older people?" Dez asked. From what he had observed from movies and from his parents, love certainly did not stink for them.

"My parents would be a good example," Ally explained. "They love each other very much but there is a great strain on their relationship because it's long distance. My Dad is here in Miami with me, whereas my mom is in Africa studying the Lowland Gorilla. See what I mean?"

"That doesn't mean it stinks though," Austin pointed out. "If they really love each other then it will work out."

"I hope you're right Austin, but it's been proven that long distance relationships are less likely to work out than regular relationships."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder?" Austin offered.

"In some cases maybe."

Austin groaned, throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Please stop putting my points down Ally. If long distance relationships don't work then how am I ever gonna date anyone while I'm on tour or something?"

Dez bit his lip, fighting the urge to mention that if he were to date Ally then he wouldn't need to worry about the long distance thing since she would go with him.

"I don't think you have to worry about that just yet Austin," Ally laughed, the seriousness of the conversation dissolving around them. "Let's just focus on your local concerts for now, we'll worry about something as serious as touring when Jimmy brings it up at the next Team Austin meeting."

Austin and Dez both nodded in agreement. The store was pretty quiet for an afternoon, usually the room was alive with customers and Ally would be running around struggling to serve everyone whilst keeping one eye on Austin and Dez who were usually breaking instruments due to their wacky antics. Not today though. After lunch the air around Team Austin had become far to thick and far too serious for Dez to mess around with Austin.

Silence surrounded them, but it wasn't awkward. None of them spoke, not wanting to break the peace. It was as though even the tiniest of noises would disrupt them and they would fall in to chaos once more.

"So that was Trent –"

Speaking of chaos… Dez frowned at Trish's return and her destruction of the calm that had fallen upon them. Just because Dez was loud in nature, did not mean he did not enjoy the occasional quiet. Not that the lack of silence was what was bothering him of course.

"He said him and Elliot are gonna pick us up from here Saturday night at seven, is that okay with you Ally?"

"Sure," Ally shrugged.

Dez offered her a sympathetic glance. He knew she didn't want to go. Ally hated meeting new people. She was uncomfortable and awkward around them, which is why it surprised Dez that she worked in a busy store like Sonic Boom, however as he had noticed over the past year that he had known her, when Ally was in Sonic Boom she was in her element.

Trish grinned, "Great! I'm gonna go get fired and then when I get back we'll go shopping for something cute for you to wear on our double date."

As Trish left, Austin turned to Dez. "I didn't even know she had a job today."

Dez could only give a small shrug of an answer. Ally didn't want to go on that date with Elliot. He didn't want Trish to go on that date with Trent. And he was willing to bet that Austin didn't want Ally going on that date with Elliot either. There was only one thing for this. Pudding. Lot's and lot's of pudding…


	4. Chapter 4

Dez had been Austin's best friend for as long as Austin could remember, and for as long as Austin could remember he and Dez had been doing crazy fun things together. But this, this was just crazy.

"I'm not sure about this," Austin said as he handed Dez yet another packet of chocolate pudding.

"Why not?" Dez asked as he tore the packet open with his teeth having long since given up on attempting to open them with his hands.

"Because although I totally agree with you about why we're doing this. I think there might be a better way to do it. You know, a way where Ally and Trish won't kill us!"

Dez shook his head. "Since Trish brought this on herself it would be unreasonable for her to kill us."

"And you really think Trish is going to listen to reason?"

"Okay. Maybe not. Which is why you're going to lie about our reasons for it."

"Why am I the on who's lying?" Austin asked clearly unhappy with Dez's plan so far.

"Because I can't lie. You know that. Remember that one time when –"

Austin held up his hand to silence the redhead. He did not need to relieve yet another one of their embarrassing childhood memories. "I guess you're right, and you're sure this will stop Ally going on her date with that Elliot guy?"

"Positive. And you're sure it will stop Trish going on her date with Trent?"

"Dez, it's your plan, how am I supposed to know?"

Dez shrugged and gestured to Austin to hand him another packet of pudding.

"I hope this works," Austin mumbled, more to himself than to Dez.

* * *

"It wasn't that bad," Trish argued as she left Pretty Little Things her arm locked with Ally's and her hands filled with colourful shopping bags.

"No. It was AWFUL!" Ally giggled. "I don't think we'll be able to go back in there for a while."

Trish shrugged. "Who needs 'em. Besides I'm thinking of trying Bandana Republic for my next job anyway."

Ally nodded. "I heard they give a huge discount to their employees."

"Why do you think I want to work there?" Trish laughed.

Ally smiled, it was times like these she enjoyed hanging out just with Trish. The Latina was a lot less violent when she was alone, and thinking about it, it had been forever since Ally and Trish had hung out without the guys. "Actually Trish, there was something I needed to talk to you about."

"Ally, I'm no letting you bail on your date with Elliot. I think you're really going to like him."

"Whys that?"

"He likes music, he writes songs, he loves reading and he's shy. He's perfect for you!"

Ally giggled. "He does sound perfect… But that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to talk to you about Dez."

Trish let out a grunt of distaste which Ally knew was only a façade. Trish just wasn't ready to accept that she actually considered the tall redhead her friend now.

"What about him?"

"You need to cut back on the name calling, just a little."

Trish frowned. "Is this about that Indian burn I gave him at the restaurant? Ally, it's not the first time I've ever done that and Dez doesn't care."

"No Trish, this isn't about the Indian burn, this is about what you said afterwards, when you called him a 'Freckle Face Freak' and then said you hated him and that no one would ever want to date him and –"

"Okay, I get your point. Maybe I was a little harsh, but that doesn't mean I'm apologising. I'll just… okay, I'll leave the doof alone for a while and if I get the 'urge' to say anything that you consider 'name calling' or 'hurtful', then I'll walk away."

Ally grinned. "Good job Trish, I'm proud. If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all."

"Right…" Trish slipped her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the time. "We should hurry. We've only got a couple more hours to get ready."

Ally rolled her eyes but followed Trish nonetheless; she wasn't going to lie, now that I was almost time for the date she was perhaps the smallest bit excited for it, but only slightly. For the majority part Ally still didn't want to go, but she was intrigued to meet this guy Trent to see exactly who was making her best friend so happy. Oh, and she wanted to see Elliot too.

"Wait!" Trish stuck her hand out in front of Ally. Her reflexes lightning fast. "Something doesn't feel right…"

"What?" Ally asked confused. From what she could see everything was exactly the same as when they left Sonic Boom mere hours ago. "Trish you're just being paranoid. This is what happens when you scheme too often."

Trish seemed to consider this for a moment before slowly lowering her arm and allowing Ally to pass.

* * *

Patricia De La Rosa had good instincts. Great instincts in fact. She could always sense a change in the air when something was amiss, which is why when she was stood in the entrance of Sonic Boom her clothes dripping with chocolate pudding, she was struggling to resist the urge to say, "I told you so."

Trish grimaced as she rubbed pudding out of her eye. She could hardly imagine how hard it was going to be to get the pudding stains out of her clothes, let alone the pudding that had clumped together in her corkscrew curls. Ally was stood beside her, visibly trying not to cry or burst a blood vessel in anger.

The girls knew exactly who the culprits were of course. They were the two idiots stood beside a tuba looking like two deer who had been caught in the headlights. The boys' mouths were slightly ajar and their eyes were wide like they couldn't quite believe what had just happened.

Ally, unlike Trish, was more likely to believe their sob story about how the tuba wasn't meant to fire on them. Trish however was not so naïve, and was, unlike Ally, immune to Austin's sad puppy dog eyes.

"What did you do?" Ally seethed, her tone low and dangerous.

Austin and Dez glanced at each other. Dez merely shrugged as he mouth opened and closed manically like a goldfish, whereas Austin let out a tiny squeak of a reply.

"Well?!" Trish snapped. Her arms flailed and sent pudding flying away from her clothes.

"Um…" Dez started. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A crease formed between his eyebrows and his nose scrunched up in concentration. "Weheardarumourthatyouroldbos swasgoingtobeheresowethought we'dprankhimforyouwhileyouwereo ut." He babbled, his words running together as though he were drunk.

"What?" Not even Ally could comprehend what he was saying.

Austin sighed. "We heard a rumor that Trish's ex-boss was on his way over here to buy a guitar for his son, so we figured we'd get him back for you whilst you were out, that way you couldn't get in any more trouble."

Trish didn't even need to consider her response. "LIARS!"

"Trish!" Ally hissed. "That seems like a perfectly honest, valid –"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it is!" Dez argued though he didn't look her in the eye.

"No it's not! My ex-boss doesn't have a son. He has a daughter!"

"Austin, Dez, did you just lie to us?" Ally said her voice quiet now. "How many times have I been through this with you guys." She made to move forward but stopped when she remembered her current pudding problem. "It's not okay to lie. Unless there's a really good reason like a crazy axe murder was coming in here looking for one of us and then you lie and say we're not here and –"

"Ally!"

"Right, sorry. My point is that you shouldn't lie to me, or Trish. Dez I expected better of you. You too Austin."

Trish shuddered as she listened to Ally tell the two boys off. The tone and pitch of Ally's voice reminded her of their fourth grade teacher Mrs Mahoney. It was like she was ten and being told off for neglecting her chalk monitor duties again.

"Why did you feel you had to lie to Trish and I? You can tell us anything," Ally smiled.

Poor naïve Ally, Trish hummed. It was brilliant trait to have, to be able to think the best of people regardless of the situation but how could Ally not see it? How could she not see that this was Dez getting his revenge on her for what she had done during lunch? No she wasn't going to give either boy the satisfaction of thinking she was bothered.

"Ally, it doesn't matter. If the guys want to be idiots let them. We have a date to get ready for," Trish said holding her head up high despite the uncomfortable feeling of the pudding rubbing against her skin as she moved. "Dez, Austin get out. Ally let's lock up and then we'll had back to your house to get ready."

Any other day Austin and Dez would have stayed to argue their case or at least apologise for their behaviour, but today they were just thankful to have not been caught.

Ally opened her mouth to question Trish's actions, knowing that Trish, more than anyone loved a good screaming match, but the brunette quickly decided against this. Some things were just better left unsaid.


	5. Chapter 5

Ally wrung her hands in her lap. She was nervous and desperately wanted to chew her hair but new that if she so much as touched her hair Trish would go nuts. The brunette turned to look at her friend who was grinning giddily at her cell phone.

"Trent says they're on their way. This is going to be so awesome."

Ally nodded, hopping to pick up some of Trish's enthusiasm and calm her nerves. The closer the hands of the clock got to seven the more jittery she was becoming and the ever present smell of pudding was doing nothing to make things better.

Her phone vibrated in her bag and she looked down to see who the message was off.

**Hey ****I know we said we'd hang out sometime and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight? - Dallas x**

Ally stared slack jawed at her cell phone. Months she had waited for Dallas to ask her out, and only now she was about head off on a date with another guy did he ask.

_**Sorry! I can't tonight. I've already got plans. What about Sunday afternoon? - Ally x**_

Surely there was no harm in arranging a date with Dallas for tomorrow, especially since this thing with Elliot was highly unlikely to work out. Right?

**I'm working Sunday :/ I'm sure Austin won't mind if you cancel on him tonight. - Dallas x**

Ally frowned. Why did Dallas assume she was hanging out with Austin? It could have been Dez or Trish.

_**Actually I'm not hanging out with Austin tonight. I've got plans with Trish. - Ally x**_

**Oh, well what about tomorrow night? I'm free then - Dallas x**

**_Unfortunately I'm not. Austin and I are working on a new song tomorrow night. Sorry Dallas, maybe we can reschedule for next week? - Ally_ _x_**

**Yeah, maybe :) - Dallas**

Despite his use of a smiley emoticon Ally had a feeling Dallas was not smiling, in fact she got a feeling he was unhappy with her. It wasn't her fault he had the worst possible timing in the world. It wasn't her fault that for once someone wanted to take her out on a date. It wasn't her fault she and Austin were – okay, maybe that one was her fault since she had organised the meeting.

"Ally! They're here! They're here!" Trish squealed excitedly, shaking Ally's arm as if simply screaming at her wouldn't do.

Ally snapped her head up to look at where Trish was pointing. Headed across the street to her and Trish were two very handsome boys. She recognised Trent from school. He was tall, dark and handsome, exactly the kind of guy Trish liked. She then turned to observe (check out) his friend whom she deduced was Elliot.

Elliot was tall like Trent, though maybe a few inches shorter. His hair was a light brown, though in the sunlight had copper undertones. His smile was shy and instantly Ally felt more at ease.

"Hey Trent," Trish said, all the giddiness from her voice gone and the confident Trish everyone knew and loved had returned.

"Hey baby," Trent cooed as his sidled up beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You ready to go?"

"Sure. Ally and Elliot, we'll let you two get to know each other and you can catch up behind us," Trish smiled, though the look in her eyes told Ally she would be informing her all about her meeting with Elliot later.

Trish and Trent walked away, leaving Ally standing awkwardly next to Elliot. She knew this wasn't going to work out!

"Um, you probably already worked this out but I'm Elliot," He smiled at her, showing off his straight white teeth.

"Ally," The brunette replied as she thrust her hand out in front of her for him to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

Elliot took her hand in his and Ally was relieved to discover his hand was equally as sweaty as her own. "You too."

They began their slow, awkward walk several yards behind Trish and Trent, neither of them really knowing what to say.

"So, Ally. Do you have a last name?"

Ally laughed. "Of course I have a last name. Who doesn't?"

"I don't," Elliot replied deadpanned.

He looked so serious, his gaze unwavering, that Ally wasn't sure if he was kidding or not. "What?"

"I'm kidding," He laughed, his emerald eyes lighting up as he did so. "I do have a last name actually. It's Taylor."

"That's a nice name. Elliot Taylor," Ally smiled. "I'm Ally Dawson. Well, technically I'm Allyson Dawson."

Elliot quirked his head at her.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just – nah, you're gonna think it's dumb."

"No, go on."

"I used to know a girl named Allyson Dawson. In fact when I knew her she lived in Miami. So I was just wondering if you were her."

"I don't think so, I don't get out a lot. My friends like to tease me because I go to like one party a year," Ally blushed, embarrassed she had just told him that story.

Elliot shrugged. "You never know. Did you ever go to summer camp as a kid?"

"Well, yeah but it was a really lame camp," Ally laughed remembering her summer there. "The only reason I went because my dad had a coupon for it. It was a maths and music camp. I can't remember what is was called. Camp – Camp –"

"Camp Knock-a-number- Rock-a-Tune?"

Ally screamed with excitement. "Yes! That was it! Oh my gosh, maybe I am that Ally! How come I don't remember you but you remember me?"

Now it was Elliot's turn to blush in embarrassment. "I kinda had a crush on you. You were in my arts and crafts class. I got my hand stuck to the side of my birdhouse and you tried to help me get unstuck."

"Oh yeah! And then when I tried pulling your hand off –"

"We fell back and landed on our glue covered seats!" They finished in unison, both laughing and smiling as they reminisced.

"I can't believe I didn't recognise you," Ally said as she scanned him again with her eyes.

"Well I have changed quite a bit since then. I'm taller for one thing."

Ally nodded in agreement. He had changed a lot since then! He was a lot cuter now, maybe even cuter than Dallas! Though he still wasn't quite as cute as –

"So how do you know Trent?" Ally asked in an attempt to forget any thoughts she may have previously been having about a certain someone.

"He's my step-brother," Elliot explained. "His dad married my mom."

"That's cool."

"I guess, though it was really weird finding out that my mom was using the internet to try online dating," Elliot shuddered. "The elderly really shouldn't go online. It's like seeing a dog walk on it's hind legs. Weird."

Ally laughed. "So does that mean you'll be going to school with us?" Ally figured since Trent went to there school Elliot must be going there too.

"Maybe. I'm not sure. My mom said she's gonna see what she thinks of Miami. If she likes it then I guess we'll stay. If not then we'll probably move back home to Middleton."

"Middleton, Wisconsin?"

Elliot nodded.

"You're a long way from home."

"Yup… it's nice though. The weather here is awesome, and the people are too," He winked flirtily.

Ally blushed, no one had ever winked at her like that before. Except for maybe Austin but only when he was messing around or teasing her.

Maybe this date with Elliot wasn't going to be as bad as she had first assumed...


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm just not sure what to do Max."

Dez sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that evening and rolled over on to his back. What was the use in talking to the dog when he wasn't even going to reply?

The redhead lay back on the cold tiled floor and placed his feet up against the refrigerator, his mom was out so there was no panic about the heavy silver beast falling and crushing him to death beneath it. He listened to the sound of the birds chirping in the trees outside in the backyard, the sound was so constant, so peaceful that he could almost just close his eyes and…

"YES!"

Dez's body jolted in surprise at the noise. He'd forgotten his father was watching the football game in the den. Heaving his long, gangly body up off of the floor Dez made his way to the dark room his mom liked to refer to as 'Daddy's Man Cave', he frowned at the thought of his mom's constant babying but shook it from his head before such thoughts had chance to cause trouble.

Knocking tentatively on the wood door, Dez waited patiently for his dad to beckon him in. "Dad?"

There was another eruption of screaming from the fans on the television screen before the volume was decreased. "Yes?."

Dez pushed the door open enough for him to slip inside. He was nervous, he didn't often like coming in this room nor was he allowed by his mother. In fact he'd only been in the room a handful of times before, and one of them was with Austin when they were kids. After that his mother had been bent on Dez never entering the room again.

The 'Man Cave' was small; even Dez's bedroom was bigger than this. It was dark as the curtains were drawn and much of the one wall was taken up by the large flat screen TV. There were cabinet lining the walls opposite and behind him, filled to the brim with old history textbooks and other collectible antiques. There were swords hung on the walls, and Dez smiled as he remembered the sword fight that had led to his Mom banning him and Austin from ever entering the room again.

"Son," His dad nodded in acknowledgement.

Dez took after his father in his appearance. Both were exceptionally tall, both had vibrant ginger hair and they each had light freckles which dusted their skin like glitter. However, unlike his father, Dez had not one sign of any facial hair. He was like his neighbour's cat, hairless. Dez's dad on the other hand had a thick red moustache which was complimented by the thick rimmed glass he had worn for as long as Dez could remember.

"Hey Dad," Dez smiled. He wasn't sure what to do; he simply stood in the door way feeling awkward and out of place, like Ally at a house party.

His father frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Dez looked down at the floor and shrugged. "Dad, can I ask you for some advice?"

"Of course son. Here, take a seat," He gestured to the battered lounge chair beside his own over stuffed one. "What can I do for you?"

Despite now being sat down, Dez was still staring at his shoes. He'd never gone to his dad for advice about anything before. Not that he'd gone to his mom either, she'd just freak out regardless of the situation.

"I have this friend –"

"Austin?"

"No, it's not Austin."

Dez's father looked surprised, his thick red eyebrows were raised and he was rubbing his chin. Dez didn't blame him though, he doubted his dad was even aware that he had any other friends. He never talked about them after all, as time had gone by dinner in the Worthy household had become a much quieter and solemn affair.

"It's my friend Trish."

"Trish…?"

Dez shook his head as if to tell his father the details and intricacies didn't matter. "She likes this guy and –"

"You're jealous."

"What?! No. Pfft. I don't like Trish. That would just be weird."

"Then what's the problem son?"

"Well, I don't like him. Her boyfriend I mean. He doesn't seem right for her."

"And who do you feel would be right for her?"

"I don't know! Someone fun loving and will fight back with her. All Trent doesn't even get her riled up. If he says jump she jumps. It's not… It's not right! And I don't know what to do."

"Tell me, what is the nature of your relationship with this girl?"

"What? Why does that matter?" His father shot him a pointed look and Dez knew better than to argue. "We argue a lot and she can be kinda mean to me… or a lot mean to me really. She says hateful things and she likes to make funny of me. She kinda scares me too…"

"But…"

"She likes Zaliens and she is really funny. I like her hair, it's so crazy and wild but that's what makes it perfect for her because she's crazy and wild too."

"My boy, it sounds like you're smitten," Dez's father smiled proudly, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder.

"What? No," Dez shook his head and shrugged the heavy hand off of him. "I just, I care about her. That's all. I care about Ally too, that doesn't mean I'm smitten with Ally."

"Ally? Really Dez, I have no idea who these people are."

But Dez wasn't listening, he was busy trying to convince his father, and maybe even himself, that he had no feelings other than that of friendship and fear for Trish. "Ally's nice to me unlike Trish and she's kind. Plus she has really soft hair that always smells good. And Ally… she's – she's – ugh! Ally's just as awesome as Trish!"

"Then why are you so concerned about Trish?"

"I'm not!" Dez was standing up now and he was pacing back and forth around the small room. "I have to be concerned about Trish because no one else is! Austin is concerned about Ally and that means I have to be worried about Trish!"

"Are you sure those are your only reasons?"

Dez opened his mouth to argue but closed it again looking taken aback. _Was that his only reason? He was only worried about Trish because he felt it was his duty? _Yes. That had to be it, there was no way he liked Trish.

Unable to stand there under his father's gaze any longer Dez turned on his heel and hurried out of the door, tripping over the dog as he did so. As he landed on the floor next to Max he sighed.

"You're so lucky you don't have to go through any of this."

The dog barely lifted his head in response, his long ears still grazing the ground.

Dez shook his head in irritation. "You my friend, are unbelievably rude."


	7. Chapter 7

Trish smiled as she watched Trent walk away with Elliot to go order. The night was just, magical. Trish had never been one to get giggly and girly over a guy, that was just not who she was. Trent had changed that and she had never been so happy in her life. Even Ally seemed to be getting into the spirit of things now the initial awkwardness had evaporated.

"So, you and Elliot seem to be getting quite cozy," Trish smirked urging Ally to talk.

Ally laughed. "Not as cozy as you and Trent on the walk over here."

Trish blushed. "Trent thinks it's cute, but enough about Trent and I, what about you and Elliot? Do you like him?"

"He's nice, and it's good being able to get to know him without my butt being firmly glued to my chair."

"So, if I suggest to Trent at the end of the night that we do this again with the four of us, you'd have no problem with that?"

Ally shook her head. "No. I'm happy you forced me here tonight Trish. I'm having a lot of fun."

The girls continued their gossip as they waited for Elliot and Trent to return with their drinks.

Trish felt the heat rise to her cheeks as Trent scooted up closer to her in the booth when he returned. It was such a great feeling to love and to be loved back. Trent was everything she could ever want in a guy. He was tall, strong, handsome, though it upset her when he got so irritated about her constant rotation of jobs.

"So Trent, how did you and Trish meet?" Ally asked as she sipped at her soda. "Obviously I know it was through school but I don't know all the details."

"Trish booby trapped my locker thinking it was someone else's," Trent explained.

"I felt pretty bad after I saw that balloon of blue cheese dressing explode in your face," Trish said apologetically. "So I followed him to the men's room –"

"You went in the guys' bathroom?" Ally said incredulously. "Trish that place is disgusting. No offence to either of you boys."

Trish rolled her eyes and continued on with the story. "I said sorry and explained what was supposed to have happened."

"And the rest is history," Trent finished, turning to give Trish an Eskimo kiss.

Any other person and Trish would have been extremely irritated by now. She hated people who finished her sentences, with the exception of Ally, but even more so she hated people who invaded her personal space. This was Trent though, so she'd allow it.

"So what did you think of the movie Ally?" Trish overheard Elliot ask her friend.

It wasn't that Trish was jealous but she did wish that she and Trent could just have a normal conversation for once. Their discussions usually either revolved around Trent's life or they were just saying nauseatingly cute things to each other.

Trish turned away from Trent causing him to fall forward and almost land in her lap, thankfully he caught himself. "I thought the move was pretty lame."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with Trish. Sorry Alls, you've been outvoted," Elliot teased.

"What? That movie was awesome! I love Selena Gomez," Ally argued back though her tone was playful. "She was brilliant in that role."

Elliot shrugged. "Ally, it's common knowledge that remakes are never as good as the original."

"That's not true!"

"Have you ever actually seen the original?"

"Well, no but –"

"Then you can't argue that the remake was better. I win."

Trish laughed at the flirting that was going on before her. She turned to Trent to say so but was met with a frown. "What?"

"Nothing," Trent shrugged.

"It's obviously something."

"It's nothing, Trish."

Trish wasn't an idiot. The tone of his voice and the way he snapped at her told her quite clearly that something was definitely up with him. "Come on Baby, tell me." Maybe flattery would help.

Trent's face softened and Trish smiled victoriously to herself. She was right, she was always right.

"It's nothing, I was just being dumb. I'm glad you liked the movie."

Trish giggled. "You weren't listening. I didn't like the movie, Ally liked the movie."

"Oh, right."

Trish frowned, that was the other thing she didn't really like about Trent, he never listened.

"It's getting pretty late," Ally commented sensing how uncomfortable her friend was. "We should probably start heading home soon."

"I don't know, the rain is pretty heavy out maybe we should wait until it eases off?" Trish suggested.

It wasn't that rain in Miami was unusual; it just wasn't a regular occurrence. So when it did rain, it poured.

Trish looked down at her outfit and then at Ally's. If she had known there had been rain forecast for that day then she would have made sure to prepare in advance. For example, she wouldn't have let Ally go out in the shirt since it was obviously going to become transparent the moment they stepped outside.

"I can't. My Dad will go crazy if I'm late home again."

"Again?" Elliot queried. "Ally Dawson, breaking rules? The shock!"

Ally shoved him, a playful scowl on her features. "It wasn't my fault, it was Austin's, he – never mind, I haven't got time for this. I really need to go."

"Here, you can wear my jacket it should stop any, wardrobe malfunctions," Elliot said, handing over his navy sweatshirt.

"Thanks. I'll text you later Trish," Ally smiled as she pulled the jacket over her head. "It was great meeting you Elliot, you too Trent."

"Oh no, there is no way I'm letting you walk home alone in this weather. I'm coming with you," Elliot slid out of the booth with Ally. "I'll see you at home bro. Goodnight Trish."

With one last smile and a wave, Ally and Elliot dashed out of the warm restaurant and out into the torrential downpour that was Miami rain.

"I should probably be getting home soon too," Trish said as she made to get out of the booth.

Trent however, had other ideas. He pulled her back his arm firm around her shoulders. "It's not that late."

"Not now it isn't but I do have to walk home you know, and I live further away than Ally."

Whenever Trent had wrapped his arm around her before she had felt safe and happy, loved even but now she didn't feel any of those things, she just felt the weight of his heavy arm pressing down uncomfortably on her shoulders.

"Still, we could just hang out here a little longer. We haven't been alone all night."

Trish looked around the majority of the customers in the restaurant had left by now, and the acne ridden employees had already begun clean up.

"No Trent. I need to get home."

Heaving a sigh of exasperation Trent removed his arm from her and got out of the booth. "come on then."

She smiled at him, happy he was listening to her. "Thanks," She slipped her small hand into his much larger one and pulled him along to the door.

Outside it was still raining, and the tiny droplets of water were pelting the ground like liquidised bullets. Trish frowned in slight irritation as Trent pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and did not even consider offering it to Trish.

The walk from the restaurant to her street didn't take too long on a regular day, fifteen minutes tops, but the rain which had now been accompanied by a strong wind had deterred their speed somewhat. In the end it took them thirty minutes to make it to the end of her street and by which time they were both thoroughly wet. Trish's clothes clung to her irritatingly and rubbed roughly against her skin as she moved. Her hair was pasted to her face with water and she was struggling to see as the rain clouded her vision.

"Finally," She sighed relieved they had made it to her street. Trish picked up pace, she yearned to be inside in the warmth of her home.

Once again, Trent had other ideas. With one swift movement he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers. Trish melted into him. It wasn't like they'd never kissed before, and she had always dreamt of being kissed in the rain, not that she'd ever admit that to anyone, including Ally, but this kiss wasn't quite how she had imagined it. Her body felt heavy with the extra weight of her water logged clothes, rain hammered against her back forcing her closer to Trent than she was comfortable with and his grip only seemed to tighten around her wrists.

After what felt like an eternity he released her. She looked up at him, her eyes watering with relief that he had let go over her wrists. He cast her one last look before jogging off down the street and into the night.

Trish bit down hard on her lip. _What was wrong with him? _Despite being unhappy with his behaviour that night, she forgave him. He hadn't been acting like himself and she put his actions down to his mood. He'd be fine again tomorrow. He would.


	8. Chapter 8

Austin Monica Moon was not afraid of anything. Not any more anyway. His fear of umbrellas had been cured by his friends and he hadn't been afraid of storms since he was a little kid. So, why couldn't he sleep?

The blonde singing sensation rolled over again in his bed in an attempt to drift off into the land of dreams but not matter what position he tried, nothing was right. No blanket? Too cold. Blanket? Too warm. Foot hanging off the side of his bed? Could potentially get eaten by the monster under his bed. Whatever he tried, nothing was quite right.

Austin glanced over at his digital clock; the red numbers told him he had been trying to sleep for nearly three hours. He sighed, giving up on any hopes of sleep and instead reached for his phone.

Maybe the issue wasn't that he could find the right way to sleep, maybe it was that he just wasn't tired. He had after all gone to bed pretty early that night after having nothing to do other than stare at the ceiling. Austin wasn't tired, he was bored!

Why did all of his friends have plans and he didn't? Who else were they hanging out with?

He knew the answer to that too of course. Trish was out with Trent, on the dumb double date with Ally and Trent's dumb friend Elliot, but Dez wasn't busy! No, Dez was just difficult.

Austin had invited him to an online game of 'Duty Calls: Red Ops', but he had rejected the request. Austin had tried getting him to play 'World of Warlords', a game which for some reason Dez really enjoyed. That hadn't worked either. His final attempt had been with 'Zaliens: The Game', Austin knew something was up when he saw the request was denied almost instantly.

So Austin being the good friend that he was had attempted to call Dez and get him to talk. Dez was always there when he was feeling down, so he should do the same for him. Dez however didn't seem to see it this way. The minute Austin called, Dez rejected him and sent him a simple text stating –

_**Busy – Dez**_

Dez may have well been 'busy' but he was obviously also in a bad mood, as shown by the striking lack of emoticons the redhead had used.

Austin wasn't bothered though, not much anyway. Dez would talk to him when he was ready, and he like the awesome guy he was, he would listen.

Now, four hours later, Austin was feeling very different about the whole situation indeed. He was angry at Dez for taking his mood out on him. He was angry at Trish for setting Ally up on that dumb date with that dumb Elliot, and he was angry at Ally for, well, for just everything! Why did Ally have to go out on the dumb date anyway?

Austin was so occupied with yelling angry thoughts in his head that he almost didn't notice his phone vibrate delightfully in his hands.

_**Hey :) are you still awake? – Ally xx**_

Suddenly, all his anger evaporated and instead he was feeling much better. Happy, even. Austin made to tap in his reply, but paused mid text. Whys should he respond to her when she had left him to be bored all night by himself whilst she ran off with some guy who wasn't nearly as awesome as he was? But, if he did ignore her then maybe she'd just text Elliot and then where would he be? Not that he cared; she could date whoever she liked.

**No, I'm asleep. – Austin xxx**

Her reply was almost instant.

_**Then how are you texting me? – Ally xx**_

**I'm an incredibly skilful guy Ally. Therefore since I'm skilled my fingers are too and so can text for themselves – Austin xxx**

_**Are they Austin? Are they really? – Ally xx**_

Austin rolled his eyes at her last text. Only Ally would quote that obnoxious blonde guy from the Dingo Channel.

**Yes. Yes they are. You of all people should know! –Austin xxx**

_**Ew! Austin, that's disgusting! – Ally xx**_

Austin stared at his phone confused. _What was she talking about? _He hadn't – Oh no.

**No! Ally I didn't mean it like that! I meant because I'm forever in the practice room playing some kind of instrument, and that usually requires my fingers! – Austin xxx**

_**Oh right. Well, now I feel dumb – Ally xx**_

**And really, aren't you the disgusting one? – Austin xxx**

_**What? Why am I the disgusting one? – Ally xx**_

**Because I only meant what I said in a totally innocent way, you were the one who twisted my words and made them disgusting :P – Austin xxx**

_**It wasn't intentional! I've been spending way too much time with you, Dez and Trish! I was innocent before you guys corrupted me – Ally xx**_

**Sure, blame us. We just made you more, worldly-wise :) – Austin xxx**

_**Believe whatever you want to believe I know the truth – Ally xx**_

**Ally I'm bored :( - Austin xxx**

_**That's unfortunate :P – Ally xx**_

**Entertain me? – Austin xxx**

_**No, I'm good thanks :) – Ally xx**_

**You're so mean to me D: So how was your little date? – Austin xxx**

_**It was fun :) Elliot is an awesome guy – Ally xx**_

Austin frowned, he had been hoping she would say something along the lines of – Oh Austin! It was awful. Elliot was such a jerk, and he was nowhere near as handsome or awesome as you! – but no, Ally just had to enjoy the guy's company.

**That's nice – Austin **

_**What did you do tonight? – Ally xx**_

**Nothing much – Austin**

_**Are you okay? You seem a bit off :/ - Ally xx**_

**Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess – Austin**

_**Maybe I should just leave you then so you can sleep – Ally xx**_

**I don't mind. Jimmy called – Austin**

_**:/ Really? What did he want? – Ally xx**_

**He said he needs to speak to us about something important. He's gonna call again sometime this week and arrange an official meeting – Austin **

_**Austin! This is awesome! Maybe it's about doing a tour! – Ally xxxxx**_

At this Austin became a lot less irritated, for two reasons. A) Jimmy had called and Ally seemed to think he wanted to discuss the possibility of going on tour, and since Ally was never wrong that had to be it. This was going to be awesome! And B) Ally had sent him five x's, obviously she was happy and that made him special since she only ever sent a maximum of two.

**That would be so cool! I can't wait. You'd come along with me though, right? – Austin xxxxx**

Maybe he'd try his luck with a whole bunch of x's and see how she responded…

_**Of course! Permitting my dad let me. I wouldn't miss it for the world :) – Ally xxxxx**_

YES!

**Awesome! :D Because, you know there's no way I could do it without out you :P – Austin xxxxx**

_**I should be getting to sleep. Some of us aren't privileged enough to get to sleep until noon! – Ally xxxxx**_

**It's not my fault you have work! :P Besides even if you could you wouldn't sleep that late anyway – Austin xxxxx**

_**That's because it's lame. You miss out on most of the day if you sleep so late – Ally xxxxx**_

**Whatever. I'm happy doing what I do :P – Austin xxxxx**

_**So I can expect to see you around two tomorrow? – Ally xxxxx**_

**Technically it's today since it's 12:01am – Austin xxxxx**

_**Smart mouth. See you this afternoon Austin :P Night! – Ally xxxxxx**_

_**Sweet dreams Allycat :) – Austin xxxxxxx**_


	9. Chapter 9

Ally had worked in her father's music store since she was eleven, and she'd worked there unaccompanied by her father since she was thirteen but never in the five years she had worked there or even in the sixteen years in which she had spent there, had she seen Sonic Boom so empty on a Saturday afternoon. It was astonishing.

Not even Austin, Dez or Trish were there! Then again, it was before noon so Austin wouldn't even be conscious yet, Dez was probably doing something Dez-like and Trish was out getting fired. Before she had met Austin and Dez, she had never felt particularly bored or lonely in work, especially since she could always count on Trish to drop by at some point during the morning and then several more times after lunch.

Today however, Ally was bored. She was bored out of her skull. The only customers she had served all day had consisted out a woman buying a violin for her very bratty daughter, a middle-aged man shopping for some reeds for his saxophone and a man who walked in thinking the store was the Eye Doctor's.

The brunette supposed she could work on a song for Austin, but she didn't quite have the motivation to do that right now, at least not without Austin himself being there to help her. Ally was just about to start dusting the display cases for the second time that morning when Elliot showed up, smiling that oh so perfect smile at her.

"Hey Ally," He said as he hopped, skipped and jumped towards her.

"What was that?" She asked an amused look playing on her features.

Elliot shrugged. "I don't know. Why not?"

"To each his own I suppose."

"So what are you doing on this fine morning?" He asked shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"Working. What brings you here?"

"Two things really. One, I wanted to take a look at your selection of guitars, and two I wanted to see you again," He blushed slightly at his own admittance which Ally found cute.

"I'll show you the guitars," She led him across the room to the store's vast selection of stringed instruments. "How long have you played guitar for?"

"Seven years, give or take," He said taking down a handsome acoustic. "Though I prefer piano."

Ally smiled. "Care to play me something?"

"Allyson Dawson, are you flirting with me?" Elliot teased. "Sure thing, what d'you want me to play?"

"Surprise me," She chose to ignore his comment about her flirting, because honestly, she wasn't sure if she had been or not since it wasn't something she did often.

"Okay. D'you mind if it's an original song? I started it last night actually after I walked you home and you said I'd changed so much."

"Go ahead, but I'm going to have to keep dusting while you play. If I don't I might get accused of not working efficiently," She rolled her eyes as she remembered the last company meeting between her and Lester.

Elliot nodded and began playing, The song was upbeat yet soft, something Ally enjoyed. Just because, as Austin put it, she could be a 'drizzle of darkness', didn't mean she couldn't enjoy a 'splash of sunshine' every now and again. Why else did she enjoy Austin's company so much? He was her splash of sunshine.

"I-I'm good at wasting time, I think lyrics need to rhyme and you're not asking but I'm trying to grow a moustache."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ally stopped him placing her hand on the neck of the guitar next to his. "A moustache, really?"

Elliot grinned. "Why not? I think I would look rather handsome with a moustache."

"It would like you had a caterpillar growing beneath your nose!"

"I eat cheese but only on pizza, please. And sometimes on homemade quesadilla otherwise it smells like feet to me. And I, I really like when the moon looks like a toenail and I love it when you say my na-a-ame."

Ally blushed.

"So, if you wanna know, here it goes, gonna tell you there's a part of me that shows if we're close gonna let you see everything, but remember that you asked for it. I'm trying to do my best to impress but it's easier to let you take a guess at the rest but you wanna hear what lives in my brain and my heart, well you asked for it. For your perusing, at times confusing, slightly amusing, introducing me."

Elliot finished and Ally applauded him enthusiastically. This boy was good. Very good.

"I take it you liked it then?" He smiled swinging the guitar over his shoulder.

"It was amazing!"

"Thanks, I actually really like song writing, Trent thinks it's lame though."

"I don't think it is but then I'm a songwriter too so maybe I'm a little bias."

"You're still writing songs, huh? Go on then show me what you've got."

Ally blushed and looked away, rubbing harder at the smudge on top of the display case. "I, um, I can't. I've… I've kinda… sorta… maybe… got stage fright."

"So how does anyone ever hear your music?"

"They don't. Not from me anyway. I write songs for Austin. Austin Moon."

"The blonde kid from the internet?"

Ally nodded.

"You're that Ally Dawson? Wow, you're amazing!"

"Thanks, that's what Austin says. He keeps trying to cure me of my stage fright but it never works, though when I pretended I was Taylor Swift at a Halloween party after Trish and Dez knocked the real Taylor Swift out, it worked then."

Elliot quirked an eyebrow up at her in amusement. "You are truly one of a kind Ally Dawson."

"Thank you."

"But that doesn't mean you're going to get away with not playing me anything," He grinned, grabbing her hand and pulling her gently over to the grand piano in the corner of the room.

"Elliot I can't," Ally whined as she struggled, though not really, to get up off of the piano bench. "I have stage fright, besides if my dad comes in here and sees I'm not working he's not gonna be very happy with me and that means I won't get paid my French fries – DON"T TOUCH MY BOOK!" Ally's eyes were wide and manic as she snatched her leather bound battered journal from Elliot's hands. She blushed in embarrassment – _What was it with this boy and making her blush? _She mumbled a quick apology and was startled when she felt Elliot's hand on her arm.

"Hey, it's okay. I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it was nothing personal, I'm like that whenever anybody touches my book. Austin and Dez do it a lot just to bug me," Ally flicked through her book to find a song to play but could find nothing suitable.

"Why don't you write a new one?" Elliot suggested.

"What, right now? No, I couldn't, I'm not –"

Elliot's hand returned to her arm again. "Just close your eyes, take a deep breath and just play."

Despite her previous fears, Ally did as she was told. "You won't touch my book though, right?"

She heard Elliot chuckle beside her. "No, I won't."

"Okay," She adjust herself slightly in her seat in preparation to play, and felt the heat rise to her cheeks when she realised just how close together she was to Elliot, she could feel his leg touching hers and their arms were brushing lightly when either of them moved.

Her fingers moved gracefully across the ivory keys and she almost forgot Elliot was even there until he started singing softly beside her.

"Can you imagine, what would happen if we could have any dream. I wish this moment was ours to own it and that it would think never leave. Then I would thank that star that made our wish come true, cause he knows that where you are is where I should be too."

Any other person, except for maybe Austin, and she wouldn't have done what she did next but she was determined to prove to Elliot that she wasn't just some nervous wreck who blushed at every other word that was said to her, and to do that she had to sing.

"Right here, right now I'm lookin' at you, and my heart loves the view cause you mean everything. Right here, I promise you somehow that tomorrow can wait some other day to be. But right now there's you and me."

Their voices mixed together in a beautiful melody. Singing with Elliot was fun. It was like when she sang with Austin, there were differences between them though. In comparison to Austin, Elliot's singing lacked a certain flare and the song she had just sung with Elliot was a lot slower to what she was used to with Austin. With Austin there was familiarity whilst with Elliot there was change, and Ally wasn't sure she liked change very much.

Differences aside, singing with Elliot was almost like singing with Austin. Almost.


	10. Chapter 10

There are those moments in life where everything in the world comes to a halt, where everything just stops, and for Dez this was one of those moments. It was like watching the sky fall or seeing two trains collide and Dez just couldn't look away.

On the one side of the room sat at the grand piano was Ally, next to her a boy who looked as though he should be walking a catwalk in Paris or New York, not sat in a music store in Miami. On the other side of the room there was himself, standing in the doorway like a child's toy who had been cast away.

Ally and the boy had been singing when he walked in, their voices blended together brilliantly but Dez couldn't help but feel like the sight before him was wrong. So wrong that he wasn't sure whether he should leave or stay and interrogate the two. It didn't take him long to decide on the latter, after all he had nothing better to do.

Dez cleared his throat to attract their attention. _Wow, they're sitting really close… A few more inches and they'd be – _Upon his quick realisation Dez sprang into action, darting across the room until he was directly behind the couple.

"Hey Ally! Who's your friend?"

Ally and the boy separated quickly as though they had both just been burnt. "Hey Dez, what are you doing here?"

"Just came to see you," Dez shrugged, watching Ally carefully. "Why? Should I leave? Did I interrupt something?"

"What? No," Ally scoffed. "I was just showing Elliot some scales on the piano."

Dez resisted rolling his eyes at her lame excuse. Contrary to popular belief, Dez wasn't an idiot, in fact he could be quite perceptive which is why when Ally's hand twitched towards her hair he didn't miss a beat.

"Oh, so this is Elliot, huh? Hello Elliot," Dez thrust his hand out and grabbed the dark-haired boy's own rather roughly. It wasn't in Dez's nature to be so rough but then it wasn't in Dez's nature to ignore his own best friend either.

"Um, hi?" Elliot said cautiously, his arm was flopping around wildly as Dez shook it.

""Um, Dez are you okay?" Ally asked, her voice raising an octave. " You're acting really weird, like weirder than usual."

"No I'm fine," Dez assured her, though he wasn't. He was still feeling quite upset after last night's discussion with his dad. On the bright side at least he had gotten Elliot and Ally away from each other before Austin showed up. "What time is Austin coming over?"

"Two, I think but you know what Austin's like. Two in Austin time could be four o'clock next Tuesday in reality."

"So, you're Dez?" Elliot asked, turning to the redhead. "You're the one who films all of Austin Moo's music videos, right?"

Dez nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Elliot shrugged. "No reason, I was just curious that's all. You do really good job filming them by the way. What editing software do you use?"

Immediately all of Dez's unreasonable hatred towards the boy vanished, no one had ever asked him about his part in Team Austin, they usually only ever talked to Trish and Austin, it was only now that the blonde rocker's career had started to take off had anyone started paying Ally any mind.

"I – uh – err – I use Cutting Room Flow."

"Is it compatible with the latest myTAB? Because I just got a new one and I want to start editing some old videos of mine, so it would be good to know whether it's worth downloading the software."

"Uh, yeah. I guess so but if you hold off on buying it for a couple of weeks then the newer version should be released."

"Thanks man," Elliot pulled his phone out of his pocket. "What website do I download it off?"

Dez recited the website he knew by heart to him and then told him the best options to pick for the best prices. Directing, filming and generally making movies was something he was very, very passionate about and it touched his heart that for once someone was interested in what he had to say.

Elliot swiveled around on the piano bench and turned his back to Dez so that he was once again facing the piano. "So Ally, would you like to play me another brilliantly crafted tune?"

Dez watched as Ally blushed and covered her face with her hands. He made a mental note that if he ever wanted anything out of Ally all he'd have to do was use flattery. Dez knew that whilst he was in room the Ally would not sing for Elliot which was a good thing because eventually Elliot would get bored and leave meaning Dez had done his duty as a best friend and kept Austin's girl away from a jerk, well Dez assumed he was a jerk, he couldn't say for certain, and even then by calling him a jerk Dez felt mean considering the guy had appeared genuinely interested in his video editing…

"I don't know, I think I've played enough for you for one day."

Dez nodded in agreement with Ally. He was just wondering what he could do next to attempt to get rid of Elliot when he shivered at the vibration sent up his leg by his phone. The ringtone told him it was his grandmother calling, this probably meant she wanted him to show her how to use the internet, again. Letting out a heavy sigh, Dez dismissed himself and left the store to answer his phone. He had only walked a few paces away from Sonic Boom when he heard the sound of a piano playing a slow tune from within the store.

_Seriously? He'd left literally seconds ago!_

Dez stared at his phone then looked back towards the store. No matter how much he wanted to help Austin, there was no way he could ignore his grandmother.

* * *

"No Grandma, no. You have to open a window to use the internet. Just click on the little square in the upper right corner it open a window."

"But I don't wanna open a window," His grandmother replied. "It's already too cold in here."

"No that's not what I meant."

"What didn't you mean?"

Dez looked up, his eyes squinting in the sunlight. "Oh, hey Austin. I was just - Austin! What are you doing here?"

"I have rehearsal with Ally, what are you doing here?" Austin asked looking both amused and confused.

"But your rehearsal with Ally isn't for another thirty minutes," Dez could hear his grandmother nattering away down the phone line to him even though he wasn't answering her, but his concern wasn't with his grandmother now. It was on Austin and how if he entered Sonic Boom he would be crushed.

The blonde shrugged, a lopsided smile playing on his lips. "I don't know, I guess I wanted to surprise Ally."

Seeing Austin move forward towards Sonic Boom, Dez jumped up in front of him blocking him from taking any further steps.

"Dez... what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing. Just stretching and talking to my grandmother well I was but then you showed up and -" Dez babbled hoping to keep Austin standing outside for as long as possible, though he doubted he would be able to keep this up for thirty minutes.

"Right... I'm just gonna go then so you can finish talking to your grandmother," Austin said slowly as he side-stepped his friend.

Dez wasn't about to give up that easily. He spun around on his heel, hung up his phone and grabbed Austin by the back of his plaid-shirt pulling him back. "No, don't. Who needs grandma right? So, do you want to head over to Mini's or McBurgerTown or -"

"I'm not hungry. I just want to see Ally," Austin detached himself from Dez's grip. "Are you okay? You're acting weird."

That was the second time someone had asked him that today. Maybe he wasn't okay, but that didn't matter right now. He had to protect his friend. "Yeah, Im -" and then an idea hit him like Trish's fist to his face. "Actually, you know what? I'm not okay. That's why I was ignoring you last night."

Austin's face softened and he took a step towards Dez this time. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Dez and Austin were never ones for the emotional talks, that was Ally's job and occasionally Trish's, but when one guy was feeling particularly down the other would sacrifice their manhood and offer a shoulder to cry on.

Dez nodded and attempted to look pathetic and sad for the sake of his lie. Sure, last night hadn't been a particularly happy time for Dez and he was in an awful mood all night long, but that didn't mean anything. People got moody all the time, especially teenagers. Besides it wasn't like Dez was moody because Trish was out with that jerk Trent, because that would be a pretty dumb reason for him to be upset. Pfft.

"Come on, we can head over to Mini's. You really like their tacos, maybe that will cheer you up," Austin suggested brightly.

The two boys had just began their walk to the food court when Austin stopped abruptly.

"Hold on, what about Ally? I should tell her that I may be a little late for rehearsal today. She won't mind though, she likes when we get all girly and talk about our feelings," Austin shuddered at his own words before turning around and starting off in a sprint towards Sonic Boom.

Dez groaned. His legs may have been longer than Austin's but that certainly didn't mean he was faster, there was no way he'd catch up with him in time. _All that, for nothing! _With another loud groan Dez too began sprinting after his friend in the vain hope that maybe some crazy fans had ambushed the rockstar and stopped him from reaching the store.

No such luck. Dez could already hear the sound of the piano coming from inside the store. He could see Austin just ahead, slowing down to walk in. Dez slowed down too, his chest tight from all the running he had just done, and it was only going to get tighter at the sight of his best friend's heart being broken.

As Dez turned to walk into Sonic Boom, prepared to see a crestfallen Austin standing in the doorway, he was surprised to see Austin stood behind the piano watching Ally play by herself a beautiful melody. When she finished both boys applauded loudly causing her to blush.

"Austin? What are you doing here? You're like three days early," She teased.

Austin smiled bashfully. "I wanted to surprise you by being early but Dez is upset so I need to cheer him up -"

"So you're going to be missing rehearsal?" Ally finished.

"Yeah, do you mind?"

"No, not at all. Actually I think it's a good thing, he was in here acting pretty weird earlier."

Dez rolled his eyes in exasperation. If only they knew he was only doing what he was doing for them. People could be so blind sometimes, especially Austin and Ally.

Austin nodded in agreement. Dez concluded that if Austin were a puppy his tail would be wagging at a mile a minute right now, he was insanely happy. "I'll be back, I promise."

"Okay, try not to be too long. I do actually have to work today you know," Ally laughed.

"Haven't you been working all morning?"

_Oh no._

Before Ally had chance to answer Austin jumped in. "Never mind I get it. You were working on that song, that's cool. It's a really good song too Ally. Hey! Maybe it could be a duet, you know between you and me?" Austin sat down beside her on the piano bench and played the first few notes.

There was nothing Dez could do now, other than stand at the front of the store with his head in his hands waiting patiently for the world around him to end.


	11. Chapter 11

Trish rubbed her wrist subconsciously as she searched her room for a bracelet or a sweatband that would be able to hide the dark bruising that decorated her wrist. She hadn't paid much thought to it the previous night, other than that it hurt, she'd been more concerned about getting inside and not catching pneumonia but now in the daylight she could see how tight Trent's grip had been and for a moment she wondered if this what Dez felt like after she gave him that Indian burn.

The young Latina glanced at the clock on her dresser, even if she left for work now she would still be late. Not that she cared, but Trent did. He hated it that she was always being fired for some reason or another, so she had planned to try her best and keep this job, obviously that wasn't going to happen and she hoped Trent wouldn't be too mad at her for it.

Finally after searching for twenty minutes she found a whole collection of bracelets that not only complimented her work uniform but also hid the bruise on her wrist perfectly. There was no way her friends could find out about this, Ally would go nuts.

Trish was just about to leave her room and head out when she saw her phone flashing on her bed, indicating she had a message. Groaning she picked it up, not having time to reply or even look at the text before she hurried out of the door hoping, for the first time, that maybe she wouldn't get fired for being late.

* * *

To say Trish had been surprised would have been an understatement; it was as though luck was on her side. Her boss was sick and so couldn't make it to work that day, and his second in command had been so swamped with customers that he let her off with a warning and sent her to work.

Unfortunately Trish didn't particularly like her job, it was no Bandana Republic. In fact Trish wasn't even sure why she had gone for the job in the first place. Bow-Wow Grooming – Fur all your grooming needs. As Trish thought about it more, the only good thing about her job was all the cute dogs she got to see, and it wasn't like she had a particularly hard job anyway, it was easy sweeping up the dog hair clippings and occasionally helping to dry the dogs after they had been bathed.

Trish clocked in and hurried out back to go sit patiently, reading magazines and filing her nails until she was called out to help. Maybe she didn't hate her job so much. After running all the way from home and to the store Trish was happy to take a break and just relax for an hour or so, unfortunately for Trish there was no time for that today. Her butt had just touched her chair when she was called to go help bathe a labradoodle. Sighing heavily Trish pulled herself up and dragged her self out to help. For some reasons, she had the niggling feeling that today was going to be a very long day.

* * *

"Good job Trish. Take your break now, you deserve it."

Trish smiled breathlessly as she made her way out of the back entrance. The store had been insanely busy that morning, Trish hadn't stopped once and by lunch she was exhausted. She wasn't used to actually working.

After grabbing her purse and cell phone from her locker, Trish had decided on buying lunch before heading over to Sonic Boom to see Ally, she wanted all the details on her walk home with Elliot last night.

"Hey Ally," Trish smiled as she spotted her friend in the Food Court.

Ally smiled back and waved her over, dropping the remains of her sandwich as she did so. "Aw shoot."

Trish took a seat next to the brunette. "So-"

"It was fine okay," Ally interrupted.

"What? You didn't even know what I was going to say," Trish smirked in amusement.

"You were going to ask me about my walk home with Elliot."

"How do you know? I might have been asking you about how work is."

"Trish, you never ask about work," Ally laughed. "And since you're so interested, Elliot came to see me at work this morning."

"So, even if I had asked about work, I would have still been asking about Elliot. Now, details!"

"There aren't any. He walked me home last night, which was kind awkward at the end since obviously in all the movies they kiss but we didn't. Then this morning he sang me a song then we sang together for a while."

"Aw, that's so sweet! I knew you'd like Elliot."

Ally blushed. "I don't like him – Okay, fine I like him, but only a little."

"Ally's got a crush," Trish teased, poking Ally playfully in the ribs. "I think it's great. Finally, you'll get over that doof Dallas."

"He's not a doof, he's just –"

"A doof."

"Trish, stop it. Dallas hasn't done anything wrong."

"Other than be a horrible employee and lead you on."

"What? He didn't lead me on."

"So he just texted and flirted with you for a month and then dropped you suddenly, for no reason? Yeah that makes perfect sense," Trish said sarcastically.

"What makes perfect sense?"

Both Ally and Trish looked up to see Austin and Dez looming over them, each boy with a stuffed animal in his arms. Trish opened her mouth to explain but stopped when she noticed Ally staring at her with wide panicked eyes. _Ooooh, she hasn't told Austin._

"Nothing," Trish shrugged. "It's way too long a story to explain."

Ally nodded and shot Trish a grateful smile. "So guys, what's up with the giant stuffed animals?"

"We won them at the arcade," Dez explained. "Austin isn't very happy 'cause I got the big one."

Trish giggled at Austin's scowl.

"It's not fair, I wanted the bear. All I got was this dumb unicorn."

"Unicorns aren't dumb!" Dez protested. "If you don't want him I'll – WHOA!"

"What? Is there a spider? Where?!" Ally freaked out, bringing her legs up under her as she began her silent screaming.

Dez didn't answer the question and instead dropped the oversized teddy bear and walked over to Trish. "What happened?" His tone was serious as he picked up her arm and looked over her wrist.

Trish stared in horror as she realised she'd lost her sweatband and her bruises had been uncovered. She cursed mentally, knowing it had probably fallen off while she had been bathing one of the dogs. The Latina snatched her arm away and hid it in her lap. "Nothing."

Dez only seemed to get angrier. "Trish, that's not nothing," He pulled her arm back up to observe the damage once more. "What happened?"

Ally placed a hand on Trish's shoulder comfortingly. Her voice was soft as she spoke. "Trish, we're just worried. That's all."

Trish looked around at her friends. Ally was leant towards her, touching her arm in what she assumed was meant to be comforting. Austin was watching her, his big brown eyes making him appear more like a sad puppy than ever before. Dez's face was contorted with overpowering emotion. He seemed both angry and sad all at the same time. She couldn't take it anymore!

"If you must know," Trish snapped, ripping her arm away from Dez's grip and standing up from her chair, almost knocking it over in the process. "I hurt it at work while I was getting one of the dogs into the tub. I had the leash wrapped too tight around my wrist and it bruised."

"Trish –"

"I've gotta get back to work," She mumbled before storming away from the group. In hindsight her outburst would probably have them more worried than before, but what business was it of theirs'? None, that's what. It was between her and Trent. No one else.

Trish was almost back at the store when someone clamped a hand on her shoulder and spun her around.

"I'm sorry."

"Dez, I can't take you seriously with that bear covering your face."

"Oh right," Dez put the bear down on the floor and smiled lopsidedly. "It's not like you take me seriously now."

Trish, against her better judgement, giggled in response. "Yeah, you're right and, I'm sorry too."

What?"

"I'm sorry I snapped at you guys, okay? I'm tired and grouchy, and I took it out on you when all you were trying to do was make sure I was okay. So, I'm sorry. But if you tell anyone about this I will make you pay Dez Worthy," She glared menacingly.

Ordinarily she would have expected Dez to run away in fear but instead he smiled and picked up the bear once more. "Here, I want you to have him. It's my way of saying I'm sorry too. I don't know why I got so angry at you."

Trish tentatively took the bear out of Dez's hands, touched at his offer but also somewhat thrown. This wasn't like them. This was something Austin and Ally would do, not her and Dez. "Thanks Dez, I –"

Hey baby."

Trish was cut off by the appearance of her boyfriend, Trent.

"Hey Trent," She said softly, not knowing how to act now both Trent and Dez were here.

Dez couched and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I should go. I'll see you later, I guess. And be more careful at work, you don't need any more bruises."

And with that he was gone, returning to the Food Court no doubt. Trish chewed on the inside of her cheek. Serious, quiet Dez had unnerved her, she was so used to seeing him act all goofy and annoying that to see him be the total opposite was a huge shock. At least to her anyway.

"Why didn't you respond to my texts?"

"What?" To add to the increasing shock factor, Trent had just knocked away all of the warmth Dez's gesture had left her with. Trent's voice was so, brutal. "I haven't – I mean I didn't – I haven't checked my phone."

Her mind raced back to that morning when her phone had been flashing a new message at her. That had been Trent.

Trent let out a low growl. "Why not?"

"I've been in work; I haven't had time to look."

"Oh, but you had time to flirt with that freak just then," Trent was dangerously close to her now and Trish could feel her heart pounding in her chest, both with fear and anger. Fear of Trent and anger that he had just insulted Dez, only she could do that!

Mustering up whatever courage she had, Trish bounced back. "Would you just back off?" She snapped. "I wasn't flirting with Dez, he's my – whatever. Look, I'm sorry okay; I'll remember to check my phone next time."

Her words didn't help; Trent was still scowling, only not so much. "Okay, fine."

Trish smiled. "Good." She picked up the bear and started to turn towards the store but was pulled back once more by Trent, who mashed his lips to hers. His hands weighed down heavily on her shoulders, almost as though he were squeezing them.

When he pulled away, Trish fought the urge to rub her now aching shoulders.

He smiled at her, his features reverting him back to the Trent she had fallen for. "Oh and Trish? I love you."

Trish watched him as he walked away, her jaw slack. When he turned the corner, she squealed happily to herself, squeezing the bear Dez had given her tight against her chest. _He loves me! He loves me! A hot boy loves me! Someone loves me!_

Trish giggled giddily, momentarily forgetting the pain her shoulders were in. She stopped mid-giggle, pulling her head away from the bear before pressing her nose against it once more. _Smells like… cinnamon, mixed with cotton-candy and new shoes. _They were smells that shouldn't have worked together but did, to create the best smell of all. _Smells like Dez._


	12. Chapter 12

Austin stared after Dez, watching his long legs pull him along as he sprinted off in Trish's direction. The blond was finding it hard to wrap his head around what had just happened. Trish had just had an insane outburst and Dez had run after her not long later, that was the part he got, what he didn't get was why. Why had Trish gotten so angry with them? And why had Dez gone after her like that? And most importantly, why was Ally being all weird around him?!

"So," He said slowly, dragging the word out as he took Trish's vacated seat.

Ally nodded, avoiding looking at him and instead chose to stare at the table between them.

Sighing, Austin placed his toy unicorn on the table gently. Just because he hadn't wanted it doesn't mean he didn't like it. "Ally, what's wrong? You were fine with Trish, you know before she went all crazy, but you've been weird with me all day. Was it something I said? If you don't want to duet with me that's fine, I'm not gonna pressure you or anything. I just thought that maybe you'd want to since you were really good at Jimmy Starr's Halloween party."

Ally didn't answer; she just kept fiddling with her hands. Austin hated this silence, it was infuriating.

"Plus it was a really good song," He added, hoping to coax her into talking.

Ally's lips quirked upwards slightly and she had finally turned to look at him. "It's not that I don't want to sing with you… well it is, I mean, I have stage fright so I don't really like performing, but that wasn't my point. I just, I can't sing that song with you."

"Why not? It was awesome! It just needs finishing, that's all. I'll even help you with it, if you want."

"Thanks Austin, but that's… it's not… you know what? Never mind, it's not important. That songs not important. Elliot just – never mind. Did Jimmy call you yet to arrange that meeting?"

Austin squinted as he looked at Ally. He was confused. Why didn't she want to sing that song? Why had she mentioned Elliot? "Are you okay Ally? First Dez and Trish act all weird and now you. What's going on?"

Ally shook her head and shrugged, looking away from him again. "Nothing. I'm just tired, after all I was texting you until midnight last night. Anyway, Jimmy?"

Austin seemed to accept this as a valid excuse, and chose to push no further. "He called this morning actually. He asked if we could all go see him Tuesday morning at the Starr Records office." Austin frowned.

"What's wrong with that? Aren't you excited? This could be huge for your career, imagine going on tour!" Ally enthused, her eyes glazing over as she thought of all the opportunities a tour could bring Austin.

"Ally, the meeting is on Tuesday. In the morning. At nine!"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Seriously Austin? That's what you're annoyed about?"

Austin held his hands up defensively. "Hey! How often is it that our school has a bug infestation and we get an extra long weekend because of it?"

"You've got all of Monday to celebrate your 'long weekend', and you can do whatever after the meeting anyway."

"I guess."

"So what's with the unicorn?" Ally gestured to the plush toy on the table.

"Dez and I went to the arcade and he won the teddy bear and I got Rainbow."

Ally covered her mouth with her hand as she stifled a giggle. "Rainbow?"

Austin frowned at her, though he wasn't really mad, he was just embarrassed. _Why would I tell her I named it Rainbow?!_

"Whatever. How long d'you thing Dez will be?"

Ally shrugged. "Who knows? Trish could have killed him by now and be searching for a suitable place to hide the body."

"You have some seriously warped humour, you know that right?"

"What?" Ally scoffed. "I do not. I can be funny."

"Sure you can," Austin said as he got up from the table and stretched his limbs.

"I can!" She insisted.

Austin smiled to himself as he watched her ogle his muscles, something Dallas didn't have. Or Elliot, he hoped.

"What time do you finish work today?"

"The same time I always do. Seven."

Austin nodded. "Can I come over?"

"Don't you always?" She teased as she picked up 'Rainbow'. "It's kinda cute."

"You can have it if you want, like an exchange, you gave me Dougie so I'll give you Rainbow."

Ally giggled. "Nah, you keep it. Dougie may need a friend back in that big bed of yours. He might get lonely when you aren't around cuddling him."

"I don't cuddle. I just like to sleep with him hugged to my chest because it's… comfortable. Helps me sleep," He coughed, feeling increasingly embarrassed.

"Sure you do," She clapped him on the shoulder and handed him the unicorn. "It could be a good thing, girls like sensitive guys."

"Really? Well, you know, I also cry at sunsets and puppies."

Ally raised her eyebrows, a smirk playing on her pink lips. "Right, and I perform at nightclubs every weekend and I'm dating Justin Bieber."

"What don't you like sensitive guys Ally?" Austin asked, as they left the food court.

"I think it depends what they're sensitive about. Crying at puppies and sunsets? Not even I do that."

Austin raised his eyebrows at her playfully.

"It was one time! Let it go!"

The duo laughed loudly together.

"Okay, then so you don't like guys who are overly sensitive. What do you like?"

Ally shrugged. "I don't know. I guess someone who can understand my passion for music, though they don't necessarily have to be passionate about music, it can be something else. I'd like a nice guy, someone who is sweet and can make me smile and laugh. Someone who I can just be myself around without worrying about messing up or something. Sometimes, though, I think that maybe I'm asking for too much because there is no way a guy like that actually exists."

Austin shrugged. "I think you're wrong. There are seven billion people in the world, you can't tell me that not one guy is like that."

"Okay, so maybe you have a point, but I don't know him. He could be anywhere. You're the closest thing to it."

Austin's heart rate began to pick up pace.

"And Elliot too, I guess."

_Okay so that was a slight burst to my bubble but she added 'I guess', which meant she's way more sure that I'm the guy in her description!_

"I'm closest, huh?" Austin said softly.

"Yeah."

_YES!_

"But you're my best friend, so you don't count."

And there it was. Austin Moon was in the _Friendzone_.


	13. Chapter 13

"What about you?" Ally asked, turning her head to her right to look at Austin. She grimaced when she saw his face. There was no denying it, even if he was her best friend, Ally considered Austin to be hot, and handsome, and cute, and adorable, and – never mind. The point was that when Austin frowned he was still hot. It gave him that slightly broody look that you find in bad boys, something a lot of girls found attractive. Ally, not so much. Sure he still looked good but when Austin frowned it was like the sunshine had disappeared and left behind a world of darkness. It wasn't right.

"Hmm?" He blinked, it was like he hadn't really been listening.

"I asked what you liked, you know, in a girl," She nudged him playfully with her elbow in the hopes of raising his spirits up again, the frown faded somewhat but was still there taking away her sunshine. "And just saying cheerleader doesn't count!"

_He smiled! You did it Ally. Point one to the Dawsonator. Dawsonator, really? What is wrong with me? I'm so glad I didn't say it out loud. That would have been embarrassing. He's staring, act cool!_

Austin smirked. "Yeah, that would have been embarrassing."

"I was thinking out loud again wasn't I?" Ally groaned.

"Just a little," Austin chuckled. "And to answer your question, I'm not sure. I don't really have a preference."

"As long as she's hot though right?"

Austin feigned hurt. "Do you really think so little of me?"

"No, but I've spent enough time with you to be able to work out your type."

"Oh really? Then do you mind telling me my 'type'?"

"Blonde," Ally answered simply. "Though there have been red heads and brunettes, blonde is your preference. Long legs but short in general height. You don't really care about brains though you'd like your girl to be at least some kind of smart especially after the Jade incident. And –"

"You're wrong," Austin said cutting her off.

"What? I can't be, I've seen you –"

"So? I told you I don't really have a type but if I did it would be the opposite of what you just described."

"Who would you say is the closest to that then?"

Austin shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sixteen; I probably haven't even met her yet. Cassidy was pretty close, I guess. Possibly Macy or Kaitlyn. And you but then _best friends don't count._"

Ally blinked at the blond. _Did he just sneer at me?_

"Right… well, I've gotta get back to work. I'll see you later Austin," Ally said quietly before darting off away from him. Why did he sneer at her? She hadn't done anything wrong, not that she was aware of anyway… What's wrong with all her friends today? First Dez, then Trish and now Austin. It's like they'd all bought a one way ticket to crazy town. At least she was normal… well, as normal as it got with Ally Dawson.

* * *

Ally shuffled her feet along the cream carpet floor, too tired to lift them properly. With a thud she collapsed on top of her bed face first her body bouncing as she landed. Despite the quiet morning Sonic Boom had been overflowing with customers that afternoon. Ally hadn't stopped running around offering her services where ever needed. It made her regret not appreciating her quiet morning more.

After what felt like hours Ally pulled herself up off of her bed, her muscles finally relaxed and her feet no longer ached, and walked over to her desk. Her dad had said he'd placed her mail there this morning after she'd left to open up the store.

There were two envelopes addressed to her. The first had been sent to her by the library; it was an invite to their annual fundraiser. Ally smiled and made a note of it on the calendar she had pinned to the notice board above her desk. The second letter made her heart drop from her chest to her stomach. The crest attached perfectly to the back of the white envelope. _MUNY._

With shaky hand and batted breath Ally peeled the envelope open, took the letter out and began to read.

_Dear Allyson Dawson,_  
_We here at Music University of New York are delighted to inform you that you are eligible for a full scholarship to our institute. It is noted that you have denied this opportunity on a previous occasion but we here at MUNY would like very much for you to join us and so would like to request that you visit our campus before you make any further decisions._  
_Your Sincerely_  
_Edmund Neidermeyer (Dean)_

Ally sighed and ran a hand through her hair, she had thought MUNY had given up on her after one failed audition and her rejection of their previous offer but she remembered her previous phone conversation with Mr Neidermeyer, who apparently was the school's new dean. She remembered about how talented he had called her and about how they would love for her to join them, but Ally couldn't leave her friends.

The brunette sank down onto the chair beside her desk and stared blankly at the letter, her mind shutting out all other thoughts. Ally's body jolted in surprise as her laptop alerted her of an incoming video call and she smiled as she saw the ID.

"Hey Mom," Ally smiled, placing the letter down on her desk so that she could wave.

"Hey sweetie," Penny Dawson waved back at her, excited to see her daughter. "How are you? I feel like we haven't spoken for a while. How's Miami? How's your father? How's –"

"Mom calm down," Ally laughed. "Everything's fine. Miami is the same, busy and sunny. We haven't had any bad weather in a while which is great."

"Yeah, I know I've been checking up online so I can see when there are going to be hurricanes. I know how afraid you get."

"Mom," Ally whined embarrassed though she smiled nonetheless. "Dad's good too, he's preparing for another convention at the moment though so he's a bit stressed."

"Are you going with him?"

"No, I'm gonna stay here and take care of the store. Besides he's only going to be gone overnight."

"Sweetie, are you okay? You don't look it. Have you been drinking your fluids and getting enough vitamins and – awww, Trish and Ally are playing."

"The monkeys right?"

Penny nodded. "As I was saying, you look a tad peaky."

"I'm fine Mom, it's just been a long day."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Ally smiled. That was something she missed immensely about her Mom. Her Dad was awesome, there was no doubt about it but sometimes she found it hard to talk to him about certain things that were going on in her life. It was times like that when she needed her mother most.

"It's just Trish, Dez and Austin are acting all weird and MUNY sent me a letter again –"

"From what you've told me weird isn't a new thing for Austin and Dez."

"It's not their normal weird though. Wait, no that doesn't make sense. I mean, they're acting different. Like Dez is serious all of a sudden and Trish flipped out today when we asked her if she was okay since she's got these weird bruises on her wrists which weren't there last night when we went out on our double date –"

"Double date? Finally! You and Austin got together! I've been waiting for this since you told me about him."

"What? No. Where would you even – No, Trish and her boyfriend Trent, set me up with Trent's step-brother Elliot, who turns out went to Camp with me. How cool is that, right?"

"I'm happy for you sweetheart."

"Thanks Mom, but... I don't know, everyone is just acting so weird."

"It sounds like you've had a rough day there kiddo," Penny said leaning in towards the laptop screen as if to comfort her daughter. "Going by what you've told me before I think you should just leave Dez be for the time being, I'm not sure what you can do for him right now. If he needs you he'll tell you."

"I think you're right mom," Ally spun around in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. "But what about Austin? And Trish? And MUNY?"

"Trish is... stubborn and she's not the most open of people, you just need to let her know you're there for her and will be whenever she needs you."

"And Austin?"

Penny smiled knowingly. "Ally, you're a smart girl. Haven't you worked it out yet?"

"Worked what out?"

Penny laughed and shifted in her seat as a young monkey hopped onto her lap and began playing with her hair.

"Ally, be honest with yourself, how do you feel about Austin?"

"What? Why would you ask - He's my best friend. He's funny and sweet. A little naive and he has a habit of ignoring the rules but I think that's what makes us work so well together, because we're opposites. It's nice to have friends."

"Oh Ally," Penny smiled sadly. "I know that me being in Africa hasn't made things any easier on you and I left at such a bad time -"

"No Mom, it's nothing - I wasn't trying to - I'm sorry Mom. I meant that... I've never had so many friends. I only ever had Trish, but now I've got Austin and Dez, and I've never felt so... so... alive! It's weird, but exciting. I hate getting in trouble and I hate breaking rules but they push me to break my boundaries and I'm a better person because of it. I go to the beach! The beach! How weird is that?"

Penny smiled, there were tears in her eyes but they were proud tears. "You've grown up so much. I remember when I left, and you were afraid of everything. You wouldn't leave the house passed nightfall and then I got that call from your Dad telling me you broke into an ice-cream store! Not that I'm condoning that sort of behaviour - And you were afraid to talk to anyone apart from Trish. I'm so proud of you Ally."

"Thanks Mom," Ally smiled, tears were prickling her eyes and she sniffed as she fought them back.

"But back to your problems," Penny said wiping any evidence of tears away from her face. "How long until you have to reply to MUNY?"

Ally scanned the letter on her desk. "About a month, or so. They'd prefer me to respond sooner rather than later though."

"Do you still want to go?"

"I'm not sure," The teenager shrugged. "For as long as I can remember MUNY was my dream but after the last fiasco with MUNY I realised that I'm living my dream now because I'm making music with my friends."

"Awww, sweetie."

"But... I just can't help but wonder, and worry about how long this is all going to last."

"What do you mean?"

Ally sighed, all of a sudden she wasn't sure she wanted to say this. It was one thing to think it but saying it made it seem all too real. "I'm worried about how long this 'dream' is going to last. What if Austin's career shoots him so far that he ends up in California with his CD? It will only be so long until the record company starts introducing new songwriters and I get pushed out. And sure at first Austin might object, but what if he changes his mind, huh? What if he realises I'm not as good as these professionals? Or what if standing up for me gets him thrown off his record label? Then I would have ruined his dream and I just can't do that to him!"

"Ally I -"

"Or what if he doesn't stand up for me and I just get kicked out on my butt. Then not only would I have lost my best friend and partner, but I would have also lost any chance I might have had at making it in music, because there's no way anyone else would take me and I doubt MUNY would want me once I'm all washed up. Plus, California can change people, Austin could lose sight of who he is and -"

"Ally breathe!" Penny yelled causing her daughter to jump at her sudden outburst. "You're over thinking this. You have a month right? So just forget about it until then and by then you'll know what's right for you. You just have to follow your heart. And stop spending so much time with your father, honestly Ally. You're an even bigger worry wart than he is."

"Dad? Seriously? You're talking about the man who refused to have the front door repaired for two weeks so he could save four bucks, despite the chances of us getting robbed in our sleep?"

Penny laughed. "Trust me, when Dad was your age he was the biggest worrier in the whole of Miami. This one time - well, never mind that's a story for when you're older."

"Mom!" Ally squealed, her mind reeling at the thought of what sort of story her mom had been about to tell her. Ally's phone vibrated on her desk and she smiled at the caller ID.

"Who's calling?" Penny asked, raising her eyebrows teasingly.

"Elliot."

Penny's smiled flawed slightly but remained. "So do you like Elliot?"

"Sort of. He's sweet. He played me an original song this morning."

"Like Austin does?"

"Well, Austin's songs aren't exactly original Mom, since I usually write them for him," Ally leant over to reject Elliot's call, she'd call him back later, there was nobody she'd miss her mom for. Except for that one time when Austin lost his voice before his audition in front of Jimmy Starr, Austin had been so scared. Penny had forgiven her though, since her excuse for blowing her mom off had completely valid. "Elliot is quieter than Austin too. He's got kind eyes, and hair that flops in just the right way and -"

"He smells like a fresh summer breeze?" Penny finished.

"No. Elliot smells more like that man spray they sell at the fragrance store at the mall. Cuda manspray," Ally's nose tickled at the mere mention of the scent. Why did guys, why did anyone for that matter, like that smell? Ally could honestly say that it was probably her least favourite thing about Elliot. The way he smelled.

"Sweetie, have you thought that perhaps Elliot is a lot like Austin? Kind of like Dallas was?"

"What? No, Dallas was nothing like Austin. Dallas lead me on, Austin would never do that. Plus Dallas was a bad employee, from what I saw of Austin when he worked at the Melody Diner he was pretty good at it, apart from when Cassidy was around. And Elliot, well I guess I can sort of see the resemblance, kind of but - there are differences. Like, Elliot can write his own songs and... Elliot has brown hair."

"Right..."

"And Elliot has... Elliot has... Look they're just different okay!"

Penny didn't say anything, she merely raised her eyebrows and smirked in amusement.

"Besides at least Elliot actually likes me."

"Austin likes you too."

"But not like 'that' Mom. It still surprises me that Austin is my friend, the chances of him ever liking me as anything but that are like a billion to one."

"I think you and Austin have roved those chances wrong before," Penny smiled warmly. "And if Austin doesn't like you then he doesn't know what he's missing out on because you are one brilliant young lady."

"You're my mom you kind of have to say that," Ally pointed out. "No, even if I did like Austin - which I don't by the way - he wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Then you just need to show him exactly what he's missing out on!" Penny lurched forward as she was struck with an idea, her quick movements shaking the table in front of her and startling the monkey sat on it. "What was that saying it that movie with that woman?"

"Mom, you're making no sense," Ally laughed.

Penny ignored her. "Ah, yes that's it. If you got it, flaunt it! Make him want you and you can show him just how great you are through Elliot and then he'll realise that he likes you and he'll show you through some great gesture. Oh it will be so romantic!"

"You say that like it happens in everyday life."

"I've seen Gossip Girl, I know how it rolls."

"Austin isn't going to suddenly like me just because I have a date. Not that I would do that anyway since that would be totally unfair on Elliot, and I don't like Austin."

Penny groaned. "You know Ally, I haven't seen a good movie, let alone a romance since I last visited Miami last Christmas. You and Austin were going to be my fixture."

"Well I hate to break it to you Mom but nothing is going to happen between Austin and I, and even if there was, how exactly were you planning on watching it?"

"Sweetie, the emails you send me are like thirty pages long and incredibly descriptive. It's like reading a novel, like Dear John or the Notebook."

"I think you'd get along with Dez, he likes romances too," Ally smiled at her mom and sighed when she caught sight of the time. "Well, I better get to bed. Dad's leaving early for his convention tomorrow and I want to be up when he leaves."

"Okay sweetheart," Penny smiled back. "I love you and if you find things are getting hard just close your eyes, take a deep breath and follow your heart. Sleep tight Ally-gator."

"Love you too Mom."


	14. Chapter 14

One pound of skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed. One cup of sliced carrots. One cup of frozen green peas. Half a cup of sliced celery. One third of a cup of butter. One third of a cup of chopped onion. One third of a cup of all purpose flour. Half a teaspoon of salt. A quarter of a teaspoon of black pepper. A quarter of a teaspoon of celery seed. Two thirds of a cup of milk. Pie crusts, approximately 9 inches worth.

The ingredients to the perfect chicken pot pie. Well, sort of. There was one thing missing, Mindy's secret ingredient, without it the whole dish just fell to pieces. Which is why Dez found himself sat in the Melody Diner twenty minutes before closing time on a Saturday night?

Recently Dez had been working on curbing his addiction to the delicious dish because he hated spending so much time with Mindy, unfortunately for Dez Mindy was not only a fantastic cook but she was also the best distraction around. For him anyway. His mind had been whirring with concerns about Trish all day, ever since he'd spotted those awful bruises on her wrists he'd been worried, but there was nothing he could do. Trish was a mystery to him and that bothered Dez. Dez was a pretty smart guy, he could solve a Rubik's cube in just under thirty-six seconds, he could piece together a one thousand piece puzzle faster than everybody he knew, and yet when it came to Trish he had no idea what he was doing.

The problem with human distractions is that when you need them most they have a habit of disappearing at the worst of times. Dez had just finished off his cha-cha-chicken potpie when a thought struck him. _Where's Mindy? _He hadn't been attacked yet, or mauled or even spoken to really since he entered the diner, unless you count when his waitress pointed out that he had toilet paper stuck to his shoe.

"Um... excuse me?" Dez said as he hailed over a passing bus boy. "Is Mindy around?"

The boy shook his head. "Uh, no. She no longer works Saturday nights."

"Oh, could you tell me why not?" Mindy had always worked Saturday nights, for as long as Dez had known the girl she had been at the diner every Saturday night and she would sit and creep him out with her adoring eyes while he ate his chicken potpie. Now she wasn't there it was strange, like when you try to sleep without your favourite stuffed monkey, it wasn't right.

"I don't know, I think she said something about a date night, if that's all I have tables to clean."

"Sure," Dez mumbled waving the boy off.

_Date night? _Since when did Mindy want to date anyone but him? Sure, he'd known that she'd had her eyes on some other unfortunate soul for a while now but he never thought she'd go for it, or that even if she did go for it he never considered that the guy might actually say yes. It was Mindy for goodness sake! She's was weird, loud and made a killer chicken potpie but that was it. She was as transparent as a window. Or so Dez had thought. Apparently Mindy was more like Trish than he had at first believed, they were both incredibly opaque.

Sighing Dez got up. Now Mindy wasn't there he didn't exactly have a reason to stay for his mind would keep wandering back to Trish. Maybe it was for the best; he shouldn't keep leading Mindy on anyway just because he liked the food she made him. It was unfair to her. And his stomach' since he wasn't sure how much more potpie his body could take.

As Dez stepped outside he was greeted by a cool breeze, but surprisingly not a text from his mother. It was usually around this time that she would text him or call to tell him to come home because it was getting late. Glancing at his watch Dez found it to be even later than he at first thought. This only worried him as surely by now his mom would have been verging on the edge of a panic attack, he might even go as far to assume that she was itching to call the police and request a search party.

Dez shook his head and began his walk home from the mall. Maybe his mom had been caught late at work, or maybe his dad had finally convinced her to give him a little bit more freedom. The redhead smiled at this thought. Freedom. It wasn't like he'd never had a taste of what it was like to stay out late with his friends or do something crazy because Dez did crazy things all the time, he'd just like to be able to do them without the constant worry that his mom was going to freak out.

He remembered how long it had taken him to wear her down and allow him to go to Trish's quincenera and how desperate he had been to prove that he would be fine and that she needn't worry. Looking back on it perhaps she had been right to worry, Dez flinched as he remembered swinging across the party hall on the jungle vine and crashing into Trish's mountain of presents. Thankfully his puffy suit had prevented any major damage so his mom had never found out.

Dez didn't live far away from the mall, thirty minutes by foot. He actually enjoyed the walks home from the mall, it prepared him for the dull quiet of his home. The transition from his friends to his parents was hard for Dez. His friends were fun and loved him for all his wacky, crazy antics whereas his parents were quite the opposite. The house had to be quiet, no shoes inside, and of course if he so much as breathed to hard that would mean a trip to the emergency room.

He envied his friend's in that sense. Austin's parents loved him and gave him as much independence as they though necessary. They even grounded him! Dez never got grounded because no matter what he did his mom would defend his actions, even when he did something like smash all her good china.

Dez shook out his limbs as if preparing to run a marathon and then dusted off his clothes before beginning his descent up the garden path towards the bright blue door. It wasn't until he had slipped his body inside the warm house and was halfway up the staircase did he register in his head that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Virginia look at me," Dez heard his father speak darkly. "Stop cleaning and look at me damnit!"

Dez yelped and slapped a hand over his mouth preventing the sound from repeating itself. He'd never heard his dad sound so… angry.

"You need help."

_Help? Help for what? It's just cleaning; she does that all the time._

"Let go of me Chaz," Virginia snapped back and Dez tried to peak his head through the railings on the stairs, in the vain hope that he might be able to see through them into the kitchen where his parents were arguing. No they weren't arguing, that was wrong. They were having a discussion. Yeah, a discussion.

"If anyone needs help it's you," Virginia spat back. "At least I do something other than sit around on my ass all day and watch sports reruns."

Dez's jaw dropped, he had never heard his mom curse before.

"You clean Virginia, that's it!"

"At least I have a job. How long are we supposed to hide this from our son? You've been unemployed for weeks, and you're not even looking for a job. Dezmond would –"

"Dez won't notice! You're so busy trying to keep him as your baby boy and protect him from the rest of the freaking would that you can't see that he's got his own problems to deal with."

Virginia scoffed. "What problems? Dezmond doesn't have problems. If anyone has problems in this house it's you! You're lazy, you don't work and you don't even care about our son. If you hadn't insisted I stop home-schooling him then he never would have met that awful Moon boy and then he would have never changed!"

"Yes he would have! Because kids grow up! There's Dezmond's problem right there! It's you. He's not a little boy anymore, he has his own life to lead and you're preventing that because you can't let go. STOP CLEANING!"

Dez squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the yelling beneath him. Since when did his mom hate Austin? When did his dad lose his job? His parents loved each other so why were they yelling. When you loved someone you didn't yell. Unless you were him and Trish but they didn't love each other like that so it didn't count.

Unfortunately for Dez he couldn't block out the noise and he sat miserably on the stairs with his eyes squeezed shut and his head between his knees whilst his parents yelled and screamed at each other from the kitchen. It wasn't until he heard the sound of flesh connect to flesh in a walloping slap did Dez's eyes spring open.

"Get out Chaz."

Dez sat up slowly and watched as his father stormed out of the kitchen, a violent red hand print emblazoned on his cheek.

"My pleasure," And with that Chaz Worthy stepped outside slamming the door behind him as he went.

Dez didn't move, he was in pure shock. He couldn't quite wrap his head around what had happened. His parents never argued, ever. So why start now? He wasn't sure how long he had sat there after his dad had left but he knew the man was long gone, he'd listened as the family car had roared out of the driveway and down the street. He crept down the stairs, his feet light as he walked. He didn't want to frighten his mom into thinking it was his dad.

"Mom?" Dez said softly as he stepped into the kitchen, wincing at the loud squeak of the door as he pushed it open.

"Dezmond?" Virginia was sat on the cold tiled floor her back up against the island in the middle of the room. Her face was read from where she had been crying and her voice was thick as though she had a lump caught in her throat.

"Are you okay?" Dez almost slapped himself. Of course she wasn't okay she was crying after all.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Dez stared at his mother incredulous that she could possibly be pleading ignorance to what had just happened.

Virginia shrugged and pulled herself up from the floor. "I was just cleaning the floor, but I bought new bleach and it's making my eyes water as you can see."

"Where's Dad?"

His mom's false smile faltered but she remained ignorant. "He got called into work, some emergency and whatnot with the computer system. It crashed I think. Never mind, he'll be home soon. Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat," Virginia pulled herself up from the floor and began rushing around the kitchen collecting bits and pieces to prepare food for her son.

In three swift steps Dez was across the room and pulling the food from her hand and placing them on the counter top next to them. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him in a hug. "Oh, mom."

People can't always be strong, sometimes people break and break Virginia Worthy did. She burst into heart wrenching sobs and clutched Dez to her as if afraid he might just disappear.

"When did you get so tall?" She sobbed, looking up at him through her tears.

Dez didn't say anything, he merely shrugged and patted her on the back. It was in that moment did Dez truly see that he wasn't dependent on his mom. No, she was dependent on him.


	15. Chapter 15

Trish was nervous. Her voice quivered when she spoke and her limbs trembled of their own accord. Had she been Ally she would have been bald by now. That is how nervous Trish was. Nervous wasn't something Trish did, or rather it wasn't something she did often. Now she was nervous she was becoming increasingly angry and frustrated to top it all off. Trish hated that she couldn't even take a sip of her drink without the glass clinking against her teeth because her hand wouldn't stop shaking erratically.

It was barely noon and yet Trish was already tempted to head back home and spend the rest of her day hidden beneath her bed covers. Perhaps she could have dealt with the nervousness that was taking over her body like a virus; it was the consequences of her nerves which she couldn't deal with.

Admittedly getting fired had been her own fault as she hadn't really been paying attention to anything she had been doing and after twelve or so mess ups she had inevitably been fired. Not that it bothered her, she'd been fired so many times her resume was at least fourteen pages, if not more. The second disaster to happen that day had been when she had dropped her cell phone in the toilet at Mal-Mart whilst she had been trying to reply to the seventh of nine texts Trent had sent her that morning.

There had been one bright side to the day however; she had a lunch date with Trent at three which is why she was nervous to begin with. Well, that and she wasn't sure if he was going to be mad at her for losing her job and not texting him back but he loved her so she had nothing to worry about, right?

Wrong. Trish along with her nervousness was also feeling the slightest bit scared. Not that she'd ever admit it. Trish instilled fear into others; she didn't have fear instilled into her.

As she walked aimlessly around the mall and sipped carefully at her smoothie – the one thing she could drink without the threat of spilling it. Thank you straws! – She tried to work out how she would deal with Trent's anger.

She had to tell him about getting fired, he'd find out sooner or later when he took his dog Larson to be groomed and she wasn't there to help. The worst part would be trying to explain her lack of texting him. Trish frowned as she remembered how has responded to it yesterday. Her reasons were valid though. She'd had to work and therefore hadn't seen the texts and then she'd dropped her phone in the toilet when she had been trying to reply. At least she'd tried!

_He won't be angry. _Trish shook her head trying to assure herself of her thoughts. _He loves me. That's the important thing. We love each other. Trent loves me. I love – Dez?_

"Hey Trish," Dez waved brightly at her as he walked over camera in hand as always.

"Hey Freckles," Trish smiled warmly at her tall friend and tried to forget about the thoughts that had run together in her mind.

"Fired?" He asked, an amused smile playing on his lips.

Trish shrugged. "I didn't really like that job anyway."

"That's a good thing. It means you won't have to deal with anymore of those nasty bruises."

"Bruises?" Trish frowned in confusion momentarily before her eyes grew wide as she caught on. "Oh right, bruises." She laughed uneasily. "Yeah, that's a good thing."

"You should probably stop rubbing them, that might help them heal faster," Dez pointed out as he watched her run her fingers around her discoloured wrists.

"You should probably get some more sleep," Trish bit back. She wasn't sure why she had snapped at the red-head. He hadn't done anything wrong, he was just looking out for her best interests after all. Trish had a point though, Dez had dark circles under his eyes and he was wearing the same outfit he'd had on the previous day.

Dez frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I should."

Had Dez not been staring directly at her Trish would have slapped herself on the head for her last comment. She hadn't meant to make the conversation so… awkward. Things were never awkward between the duo until things got serious, most of the time they were arguing or in Trish's case threatening, each other.

"Do you want to…" Trish trailed off not knowing how to word what she wanted to say.

"Want to what?"

The Latina didn't answer straight away, she stared at the ground and scuffed her shoes like a child before realising how dumb she must look. Her head snapped back up to look at Dez. "Do you want to hang out for a while?"

"Uh sure," Dez looked confused at her suggestion but pleased at the same time. His face seemed to brighten and he didn't look quite so tired anymore. "We could go get something to eat, if you want."

Trish was about to nod at his suggestion, her stomach rumbling loudly in agreement when she remembered he plans with Trent. "I can't. I mean, I can hang out with you and stuff but I can't eat anything."

"Why not?" Dez's asked, his eyebrows furrowing together before his features became startled and concerned. "Trish I know you have a new boyfriend and everything now, but you don't need to change for him. You're beautiful the way you are, perfect even."

Trish opened and closed her mouth repeatedly like a goldfish, she had no idea how to respond. "Dez, I –"

"No Trish, if Trent," His voice was like venom at the mere mention of her boyfriend. "can't see how awesome you are then he's an idiot. You shouldn't need to change yourself for a guy."

Trish smiled softly at Dez as she caught on to what he was trying to say. "When I said I couldn't eat I meant I couldn't eat because I'm going on a date with Trent for lunch, not that I couldn't eat because I wanted to lose weight."

"Oh," Dez blush tomato red and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"But thank you for saying what you said Dez," there was only so much sappy-ness Trish could take so it wasn't long before she pushed their conversation back to it's natural structure. "Besides I'm 'beautiful' the way I am, remember Doofus?" Trish snorted at the thought of changing herself for a guy but she couldn't help the happy, warm feeling that had been bubbling away inside her since Dez had called her beautiful.

Dez laughed along with her and they soon fell into step neither of them really knowing exactly where they planned on hanging out to. They were silent as they walked which made Trish uncomfortable, she hated silences.

"So why are you so tired?" She asked as she caught Dez yawning out of the corner of her eye.

"What? Oh, no reason. I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Dez shrugged as though it were nothing but Trish knew otherwise. Dez wasn't the type to get tired, he could stay up for hours on end and still be bubbling over with energy.

"Right…" Trish wanted to pry and push for answers but she wasn't sure how to. A week ago she would have bullied the answer out of him or totally change the subject to something that wasn't at all serious, but now things were different. They were serious, something Trish couldn't quite get used to.

Dez sighed and sat down on edge of the mall fountain, and Trish smiled as she remembered the time she pushed him in. Now was not the time for playful pranks, Dez was behaving far too out of character for that.

"Dez?" She asked timidly, though she frowned at her own change in behaviour.

Dez ran his hands over his face and hair before looking her dead in the eye. Trish knew she was supposed to keep a straight face but she couldn't, especially not now his hair was sticking up in tufts where he had just messed with it.

"My mom and dad got in a fight," He said, his face stony.

Trish took a tentative seat beside him and placed an awkward hand on his shoulder. "Oh, well that's not the end of the world, right? I mean, all parents fight. It's normal for them to disagree from time to time." Trish was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, it wasn't her place to console Dez about his parents it was Austin's or Ally's, not hers. What if she worded it wrong and upset him more?

"But my parents never argue."

"Maybe they do but you just haven't been listening."

Dez seemed to think about this for a moment and Trish decided it would be best if she continue to explain carefully to him.

"Sometimes parents can disagree with each other and still manage to talk about it in a calm way, where both people get a chance to listen and to talk. But many times when parents disagree, they argue."

"Dad stormed out though –"

"Parents' arguments usually don't mean that they don't love each other or that they're getting a divorce. Most of the time the arguments are just a way to let off steam when parents have a bad day or feel stressed out over other things. Most people lose their cool now and then."

"They said some things –"

"When parents get upset they might cry, yell, or say things they don't really mean. Sometimes an argument might not mean anything except that one parent or both just lost their temper."

"But they never argue Trish! Ever!" Dez said loudly as if raising his volume would get his point across to her. "They barely even speak…" He trailed off in thought and Trish continued to sit beside him awkwardly.

"That's why they don't argue, it's because they don't speak. As a kid I always thought it was weird how Austin's parents used to act together. They were always with one another, telling each other how much they loved each other. They even colour coordinated their clothes! But my parents didn't do any of that. If my dad wasn't at work he'd be in the den watching TV and if my mom wasn't at work she was cleaning constantly."

"Dez…"

"My dad lost his job, you know. He lost it weeks ago and they didn't even tell me. My dad wasn't even looking for a new one either; he just sat around on his butt all day and did nothing. My mom just kept acting like there was nothing wrong, she's still doing it now. Last night she cried for hours after dad left. I've never seen someone cry so much but then this morning she acted like it had never happened, she told me that 'daddy would be back soon' and left it at that."

"Dez, I –"

"And now she's stuck with me, and I can't do anything to help her. I don't know where my dad is or what he's doing. My mom is at work, I think! I don't even know, she could have left too by now and I don't know what to do and –"

Dez!"

"Yes?"

Dez turned his head to look at her and he almost broke her heart. He looked so lost and Trish didn't know how to handle it. Ally should be here not her.

"I have to go now. I've got my, um, date."

"Oh."

The look on his face only seemed to get worse at that. It was like someone had taken his camera and smashed it up into tiny little pieces right in front of him. Trish, despite often teasingly the boy mercilessly, couldn't do that to him.

"But I could stay, I mean Trent wouldn't mind if I was a little late and it's not like I have to meet him for another thirty minutes anyway," She lied. "I'll just meet him a little later that's all."

"Trish, you don't have to –"

"But I want to," She smiled and patted him again on the shoulder. "We could go to the arcade if you want, it might take your mind off of it. Plus, I heard a rumour that you beat my high on _Zaliens: Revenge of Sharkodiles _and there is no way I'm letting that get around."

Dez laughed and the shine seemed to come back to his eyes. "Me likey."

* * *

"Where were you?"

"I had to take care of Dez."

"You've been spending way too much time with that guy."

"That guy is my friend! What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?! Maybe it's that my girlfriend spends more time with some idiot than me, and can't even spare a second to text me to let me know she's going to be late."

"By like fifteen minutes!"

"I went to the store you know."

"And?"

"They said you no longer worked there. That you got fired. I told you not to get fired Trish. I told you that I didn't like it."

"Apparently you don't like a lot of things about me. You don't like how loud I am, you don't like that I get fired, you don't like when I hang out with my friends –"

"You know what else I don't like? Your attitude."

"What d'you –"


	16. Chapter 16

"Stop hiding out in the shadows scared to show the world you exist. Don't lock yourself in the darkness, the world is so much brighter than this."

Austin smiled. He was leant against the practice room door listening to Ally sing. He watched as her hands moved gracefully across the ivory keys. Her passion for music was something Austin understood one hundred percent, and it was definitely something that they bonded over even if their styles were different.

When Ally was almost done he saw his opportunity to make his presence known. "Hey Dawsonator."

Ally stopped playing and turned to glare at him. "It was one time Austin. One time!"

Austin chuckled at her anger. "It was funny."

"It wasn't intentional."

"Whatever you say… Dawsonator."

"Austin!" Ally groaned. "Quit it or I'll – I'll –"

"What are you gonna do?" Austin snickered. "High five me to death?"

The brunette scowled and turned away from him in a childish huff though she moved up enough on the piano bench for Austin to slide in beside her.

"Watcha doin'?" He swayed his legs and knocked them into hers to attract her attention.

"I was going to work on a new song but then _someone_ thought it would be a good idea to come in and irritate me," Ally twisted back around to face the piano, her arms were folded over her chest and there was still frown playing on her features but the small twitch of her lips told Austin she wasn't genuinely angry.

Austin shrugged. "I was bored, besides we didn't get a lot of work done yesterday during our writing session."

"That wasn't my fault, my dad was swamped with work and need my help with customers," Ally defended. "But I did get some new ideas last night. My book is down stairs under the counter, could you go get it for me? And then we can get to work."

Austin's jaw dropped dramatically and he waved his arms about in exaggerated movements. "What? You're actually going to trust me with your precious book? Am I dying? Is this it?"

Ally shoved him playfully as he got up. "Just go get my book."

Austin hurried down the stairs and out onto the store floor eager to get back up to the practice room with Ally. He spotted her book under counter and went to grab it all the while resisting the urge to take a peak inside and read her personal and private thoughts.

"Austin Moon right?"

The boy in question turned to come face top face with a boy a few inches shorter than himself.

"Uh yeah, why?"

The boy smiled. "I'm a big fan; I watch your webcasts all the time. I even bought your album."

Austin smiled back. "That's awesome man. I'm glad you like my music."

"Technically wouldn't that be Ally's music? You just sing it, right?"

"Well, yeah but I help write it too," Austin's smile faltered somewhat at the boy's comment. "We're partners."

"I get that, she's an awesome songwriter any guy would be lucky to have her."

"Oh no, I don't – I mean – it's not like that. Ally and I are just friends, co-workers even."

"Sure, actually that's why I'm here. I wanted to see Ally. I'm Elliot, maybe she told you about me. We went on a date Friday night."

Austin smile fell and he glanced down at the journal in his hands before looking back up to the green eyed boy in front of him. "Uh, Ally's not here right now," He lied. Austin didn't really like to lie, especially not now he was friends with Ally since she hated it but Austin was smart enough to know that if he gave Elliot her whereabouts then that would be then end of Austin and Ally time for that day.

"Oh, that's cool I guess. I'll just call her later," Elliot swished his hair out of his eyes and Austin fought back a glare. He couldn't help it, everything about this guy just screamed 'Jerk'.

"Okay, when she gets back I'll let her know you were here."

As if on cue Ally marched out of the practice room and leant over the steel railings to look down at the pair. "Austin, what's taking so long? You better not be reading my book!"

Austin laughed uneasily. "Look who's back!"

Elliot frowned obviously catching on to Austin's lie. "Hey Ally!" Elliot waved up at her and earned himself a bright smile.

"Hey Elliot," Ally shut the door to the practice room and hurried down the stairs to join the two boys. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good, could I talk to you for a moment please?"

"Sure."

Austin didn't get the hint; he was too busy bracing himself for Ally to say something dumb, it was what she did when she was attracted to a guy. He shuddered as he remembered the multiple Dallas fiascos in flirting.

"Alone," Elliot made sure to put extra emphasis on the word his eyes practically bulging out of his head as he spoke.

"Oh right, I'll just be upstairs…" Austin said though he wouldn't be up there long, he would be forced to leave when Ally inevitably invited Elliot in to join them and Austin just couldn't bare to sit and watch his best friend drool over a tool like Elliot.

* * *

_I was right._

Austin ran a hand through his hair and grabbed Ally's book off of the top of the piano to hand it to her on his way out. He'd been sat alone in the practice room for nearly thirty minutes now and it had taken ever inch of self restraint he had to not read Ally's book. He could hear her coming up the stairs and he just knew she was going to come in and apologise for leaving him alone for so long then she would ruin any apology she had made, no matter how heart felt, by bringing in Elliot to watch them work.

In four strides Austin was across the room just in time for Ally to open the door and enter the room. By now you'd have thought they would have had their entrances and exits down to a science, if you thought this you were wrong. Austin and Ally collided into each other, Ally walking straight into Austin's firm chest.

"Ow, ow, ow," Ally moaned though her voice was muffled by her hand which was covering her face.

"Oh my gosh, Ally are you okay? I'm so sorry!" Austin leant down to look at her. "Move your hand."When she continued to clutch her face in pain Austin took it upon himself to remove her hand gently so he could take a proper look at her nose.

"Is it bleeding?"

"Nah, maybe just a little bruised, but you'll be fine," Austin smiled. She looked so pretty in that moment. Sunlight was coming in through the windows and bouncing off her in away that made her seem like she was glowing. A defiant hair fell onto her face, blocking part of Austin's view. Moving hesitantly in the hope that Ally would realise just how tense this moment was and get the hint. Her eyes connected with his and a glimmer of realisation blossomed from their depths. Slowly, tenderly the connection was made and the moment had arrived. It was going to happen.

_It's actually happening! _Austin thought, excitement forcing his stomach into involuntary somersaults. _Ally wants to kiss me! _Her eyes sparkled with that pure excitement only anticipation brings and it happened.

Their lips brushed softly and Austin felt a warmth bloom in his chest, and he felt her kiss back, lips brushed over lips, parting slightly to form a perfect, intimate moment that would always be a part of Austin's memory of that perfect instant. That instant where nothing else mattered and all that was left was him and Ally… And Elliot.

"What the -?!"


	17. Chapter 17

"Elliot, wait! I can explain!" Ally yelled as she watched the dark haired teenager storm out of the room. Ally sighed, she wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. One second she had been clutching her nose in pain the next Austin's lips had been firmly planted on hers.

Ally turned to look at the boy with whom she had just shared a kiss. He was looking at her too, there was a slight blush on his cheeks and when he ran his hand through his blond locks she knew he was feeling the same thing she was. Awkward.

"So…" Austin coughed as he ruffled his hair. "That was, nice."

Ally nodded. "Yeah, it was… Um, I should probably get back to work."

"Probably."

Neither of them moved, the atmosphere around them was so tense that Ally could hardly breathe let alone move. Ally knew Austin wouldn't talk about it, he was a boy and they didn't do 'feelings' and Austin was a prime example of that. She remembered back to when he'd had a crush on Cassidy, he had done a horrible job at expressing how he felt then.

"Austin?"

"Hmm?" He hummed in acknowledgement though he wasn't looking at her, his eyes had glazed over and he was staring at door behind her.

"Why did you kiss me?" Her voice was quiet and small making her sound even more timid than she usually did in these tense situations. It felt like the time Dallas had asked her out and then came by an hour before their date to tell her he had to cancel. Only this felt a thousand times worse because this was Austin, her partner, her best friend.

Austin blew his cheeks up with air and then exhaled heavily, and had Ally not been fighting the extraordinarily strong urge not to chew her hair, she probably would have smiled at his childlike behaviour.

"I didn't kiss you…?" Austin frowned at his own blatant lie which had come out as more of a question than a reason, which is what Ally had wanted.

Ally stared at him in disbelief. "Austin, I was right here. I felt your lips on mine. You kissed me!"

"What?" Austin's voice became high-pitched and he laughed nervously. "No, I didn't."

"Austin!" She snapped. Ally couldn't believe him. He had obviously kissed her, which is why Elliot had run off and aside from that her lips were still tingling from the kiss.

The blond sighed. "Fine, I kissed you."

"Yes, I think we established that when you planted your lips on mine five minutes ago," Ally snapped, folding her arms over her chest in a huff, the magic of the kiss been fought off by her want to smack him for his stupidity.

"But I only did it because –"

It was like watching something on the Dingo Channel, where the main character struggled to say a particular word. For a moment Ally's mind flashed back to an old episode of _Alexis Texas _where Alexis needed to apologise to her 'frenemy' Ryan and she couldn't say the actually word. Right now Austin was Alexis and she was his Ryan. The only difference being that Ryan had kissed Alexis when she had been trying to apologise, Austin and Ally had already covered the kissing part.

"It was in the heat of the moment I guess," Austin mumbled.

"Heat of the moment?" Ally repeated in an attempt to wrap her head around his excuse.

Austin shrugged and ran his hand through his hair again. "Yeah, I haven't had a girlfriend in a while and you were right there, all close and smelling – you know, like a girl. And it just – I couldn't – yeah."

Ally blinked at him. What he had said made no sense whatsoever, and yet she had still managed to understand him. Ally's lower lip jutted out and she bit down on it to stop herself from crying. She wasn't going to lie, she wasn't Austin so it wasn't something that came naturally to her, what Austin had said hurt her. What he had meant was that he hadn't seen her as Ally but as a totally different girl, and that hurt. It hurt more than that time he'd gone to extremes to make sure she didn't like him. Only this time he wasn't doing it for their friendship, he was doing it because he was a hormonal teenage boy who couldn't help himself.

The brunette nodded slowly, silently preying she could hold back the tears until Austin had left the room. "Okay. That makes perfect sense. I need to get back to work now, so it would be good if you could leave as you may be a distraction to me." Her movements were robotic as she made to pick up her journal, though she had no intentions of writing in it something which shocked her to her core.

Austin frowned. "Ally are you okay?"

"I'm fine Austin. I just need to get back to work. I promised my dad I'd look after the store while he's away and that is what I intend to do."

"Alright," He nodded, manoeuvring around her to get to the door. "I'll see you later, I guess." Though they both knew he had no intentions of doing so. "Oh and Ally?"

"Yes Austin?" He was behind her now, by the door but she wouldn't turn to look at him because she knew if she did she'd break.

"I – um, I liked – I liked kissing you. It was nice."

There was a soft click of the door behind her, that was all it took. Ally fell to her knees on to the floor, dropping her book in the process. She cradled her face with her hands and sobbed quietly. Her friendship with Austin was dead. They'd killed it. He'd killed it with a kiss and she'd killed it by actually thinking he had meant to kiss her.

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

* * *

Ally stuffed her hands in her pocket and walked slowly down the street, kicking and empty bottle as she went. She picked it up though of course when she got to Trish's house, it would be littering if she left it and Ally Dawson, no matter how bad she may be feeling, did not litter.

Trish's house was huge but that was to be expected when her parents practically slept in a bed made of money. Okay, so maybe that was a slight exaggeration but Trish's parents were rich. The couch in Trish's living room probably had more spare change stuffed under the cushions than Ally had change in her piggy bank back home.

Ally didn't stand outside waiting for long, Trish answered almost as soon as Ally had stepped onto the front porch.

"Hey," Ally smiled happy to see her best friend and be away from the drama of the day. "Where are your parents?" She gestured to the empty driveway.

"Business meeting?" Trish offered though her guess was as good as Ally's. Stepping aside Trish let Ally in. It was getting dark out now and Trish didn't like to hang around outside when it got dark, something she had likely picked up from Ally over the years. However when Trish stepped back into the light of the foyer Ally was not prepared for what she saw. There was a large bruise covering Trish's eye and her lip had a tiny cut in it.

"Trish!" Ally gasped, rushing forward to inspect her friend. Whatever Ally had been through today, the Latina had undoubtedly been through worse. "What happened?"

Trish swatted Ally's hand away and led her upstairs to her room. It was somewhere they could talk privately with out the threat of Trish's younger brother overhearing.

Ally followed Trish's example and took a seat on her bed, a crease had already formed between Ally's eyebrows due to her worry and she'd had to flick her hair over her shoulder to avoid chewing it.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone," Trish warned. "Especially Dez and Austin."

"Trish if this is serious we have to tell someone. Obviously something bad happened." Ally had read enough of Mrs De La Rosa's female magazines to know that if you kept this sort of thing to yourself it only got worse over time.

"Ally I can't if I do then it becomes this whole big thing, which it's not."

"Then what is it Trish?" Ally snapped, she hadn't meant to but her concern was taking over her to the point where she was terrified for her friend. Her friend who didn't seem to care anyway because if she did then she would have told her parents.

Trish sighed. "I can't tell anyone Ally, and you won't tell anyone either because it's not your place to tell." She didn't give Ally chance to reply before she tackled the subject head on. "Trent hit me."

Ally's jaw dropped and she felt that if her life had been a cartoon it literally would have fallen off right there and then. "What?" Her voice was soft and quiet as she leant forward and lifted her hand to cup Trish's face, something her mother had done for her as a child whenever she had fallen and injured herself.

"Trent hit me."

Ally flinched as Trish repeated those three awful words. "Why? Why would he hit you? He loves you, right? You sent me like a whole three page text about it yesterday."

"Obviously not," Trish said bitterly a scowl forming on her face. "He hit me because he doesn't like my 'attitude'. I don't take things seriously enough, he said he was going to make me better. That it was for 'my own good'."

"Trish you have to tell someone. You have to tell your parents and then they can tell the police," Ally swallowed back her own tears. She just wanted to hold her friend in her arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, that she didn't deserve this. Ally almost felt selfish, because whilst she may have been concerned for her friend at the same time she needed someone to hold her back and tell her that everything was going to be okay, that she needn't worry.

"I'm not going to tell anyone. I've dealt with it myself," Trish mumbled.

Now Ally looked closely the Latina's eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks tinted red, Trish had been crying. "How?"

"I broke up with him."

Ally released and inward sigh of relief, she had read about these things in Mrs De La Rosa's magazines, about how these women got hurt by their boyfriends and yet they stayed with them because they 'loved them'. She was happy Trish wasn't one of those girls. "Thank gosh."

A tiny trace of a smile appeared on Trish's lips. "What do you take me for? A Daffodil? Trent was bad news Ally. He got jealous over dumb stuff and he didn't like me for me. I should have seen the signs when he hurt my wrists after our double date."

Ally gasped. "Those bruises were from Trent? But you said they were from – from –"

"Work? I lied, Ally. I'm sorry I lied to you guys but I wanted to defend Trent's actions. I couldn't accept that he wasn't a good guy. I've seen that now," Trish smiled which surprised Ally because if she had been in her friend's situation she would have been a wreck. "Anyway enough of that let's talk about something else. How was work?"

"Are you sure? I'm hear to listen if you want to continue to vent, I don't mind."

Trish shook her head, her corkscrew curls shaking along with her. "No, I'm good for now. I don't want to think about that jerk, so maybe it's a good thing I dropped my cell phone in the toilet." Trish giggled but upon noticing Ally's look of confusion waved her off with, "It's a long story."

Ally shrugged. "Well I'm glad you're okay now. Things could have gotten a lot worse if you hadn't nipped it in the bud now."

"That's kinda what I was afraid of actually. I know from reading my mom's magazines that these things only get worse not better, and I didn't want to be like them, but like I said, I don't want to talk about that now."

"Right, sorry," Ally blushed apologetically. She didn't want to make her friend relieve her awful day again and again. "Um, work was good."

"Cool, did you show Austin that new song you've been working on?"

"Not exactly..."


	18. Chapter 18

"Just calm down buddy, it's not that bad," Dez soothed as he watched his friend pace up and down the room. Austin had been doing that for a while now. He'd shown up out of the blue, ranting about how he'd messed up with Ally and that she probably hated him now.

"Not that bad? Not that bad? I kissed her! That's bad, extremely bad! And then I lied to her about it," Austin exclaimed running a hand through his hair, not that it could get any messier at this point. "I told her it was a mistake, and it kinda was but it wasn't. I'm not making any sense am I?"

Dez shook his head. "No, if anything you sound like Ally."

Austin groaned and finally stopped pacing. "What am I gonna do?" He asked as he threw himself down onto Dez's beanbag chair across from the bed. "I can't tell her the truth, it might creep her out or worse, she might laugh."

"You're looking at this all wrong. Ally likes you, she won't hate you all because of a dumb kiss," Dez offered hoping to make his friend feel better. He glanced at the clock on the wall, his mom wouldn't be home for a few hours so that was good, after finding out his mom didn't like Austin, Dez felt rather uncomfortable about having the blond over when he was mom was around.

Austin shook his head. "But what if she does? You remember what happened when I read her book. I told her I'd never like her."

"But you do."

Austin opened his mouth to argue but quickly closed it. "I guess there's no use in lying about it now, huh?"

Dez nodded. "My mom might have some magazines about what to do in this situation."

Austin groaned. "Maybe, but I don't like reading those things. They're all girly and gross."

The boys shuddered and headed out of the room in search of female magazines. Dez wouldn't admit it to Austin; it was bad enough admitting he enjoyed romance movies, but Dez often found himself reading his mom's magazines. It was embarrassing sure, but it gave him an insight to the female mind, something Austin didn't have.

"They should be around here somewhere," Dez mumbled as they eyed his parent's – his mom's room. Out of the corner of his eye Dez could see Austin and he was happy to see he looked just as uncomfortable as he did.

"Why hasn't she opened the curtains?" Austin asked, moving forward to let some light into the room.

Dez shrugged. "Other than work, she hasn't left her room much since… you know."

Austin nodded and didn't say anything further, something Dez was grateful for. It had been nice unloading his worries and fears onto Trish, it had made it a lot easier to tell Austin, though Dez hadn't come to terms with it completely. He still half expected to overhear his dad yelling at the TV in the den.

Looking around Dez was surprised to see how untidy the room was in comparison to the rest of the house. There were clothes on the floor, the bed was unmade and it generally looked scruffy. Stepping carefully over what Dez recognised to be his mom's Christmas sweater – _Why's that on the floor? _– he made his way over to the walk-in wardrobe on the other side of the room.

"I'll check in here," He said over his shoulder to Austin. "You look under the bed." Dez chuckled as he listened to Austin grumble about dust bunnies and other unmentionables he might find under there.

The minute Dez opened up the closet he regretted it and wished he'd just offered to check online for a solution to Austin's problem. His jaw went slack and his normally straight posture fell into a hunch. His father's side of the closet was empty.

"Dez I found – What's wrong?"

He felt the blond come up behind him and from his peripheral vision he could see the edge of a magazine, and he knew Austin had found what they'd been looking for. "My Dad, he – um… yeah."

Austin clapped a hand on Dez's shoulder as if to comfort him. Now words were to be spoken because they were not needed, but Dez couldn't help it. He frowned.

"Where did he go?"

"What d'you mean?"

"He's taken his stuff," Dez stated before rushing around the room to pull open drawers, checking for any evidence that his dad hadn't left with everything. "There's no way he could take it all to a motel, there wouldn't be enough room, and since he hasn't got a job he hasn't got any money."

"Maybe he's staying with his parents?" Austin offered before dashing across the room to grab another magazine which Dez had uncovered in his own rush.

Dez shook his head as he lifted the mattress off of the bed. "No, they live in Ohio. There's no way my dad could drive there with all his stuff. Plus he wouldn't be able to afford to pay for the gas to get there."

"What are you looking for?"

"Evidence. A Sign. Anything. My dad can't have left. He and mom were gonna work things out. This isn't how things are supposed to be. He –" Dez stopped mid sentence before sprinting out of the room. There was one thing, only one thing that would tell Dez the truth. 'Daddy's Man Cave'.

As he threw open the door Dez had to choke back a yelp. Empty, almost. The TV was still there, but that was it. The swords were gone, a handful of history textbook had been left haphazardly on the shelves along with a broke figurine that belonged to his mom – _How did that get there?_

He heard Austin whisper in shock behind him. Despite having only been in the room once before, even he knew something was up. That was when Dez saw it, his tiny glimmer of hope, the thing that would save his parents marriage. A photo. A photo of them, happy and laughing. Dez didn't remember when it was taken but he knew just from looking at it that it was a happy memory. He was only about six at the time and he was giggling madly at something he'd seen or heard, and whilst his Virginia smiled down on her son adoringly, Chaz only had eyes for his wife.

"I have to find him," Dez said as he tore his eyes away from the picture.

"What? Dez –"

"No Austin. I have to. There is no way – if he had seen that picture, that one right there then he would have stayed. He forgot that's all, he forgot what it felt like to be those people. He just needs reminding. We need to find him. I need to find my dad."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea buddy… We don't even know where he is."

Dez knew Austin was just trying to help, he made sense after all. It was insane to try and find a man who clearly didn't want to be found, but he had to do it. He had to make him remember. Spinning around on his heel Dez once again began searching.

"What are you looking for now?" Austin sighed, as he tossed the magazines down on Chaz's chair.

"Something that will tell me where he is," Dez explained. "What are you doing?" He asked as he noticed Austin digging around on the floor.

"Help you, aren't I? That's what friends are for."

Dez smiled and got back to work.

"How do we know when we've found the right thing?" Austin asked from the ground.

"We don't, I guess. My Dad used to write stuff down a lot so maybe there'll be something on a piece of paper. There's nothing in the cabinets though aside from his old journals."

Austin got up off the floor and started prying open the mahogany cupboards. "What did he write in them?"

Dez shrugged. "Like dates and stuff. You know, things that happen on important days. Or he'd write down the addresses of friends and family. He had a really bad memory so he had to write them down or he'd forget. Like this one time –"

"I got it!" Austin squealed happily.

"Let me see," Dez said as he walked up behind Austin to peer over his shoulder at the journal.

"It's his 2012 one so it's from this year. If we look in the back of the other ones he's written in the addresses of places he's been, but he underlines the ones he goes to frequently."

"How do you know?" Dez asked feeling somewhat creeped out that Austin knew all this about his dad.

"Ally does the same thing, well kinda. She underlines the important things, so if your dad has underlined them then they must have been important. Right?"

"Yeah, but he's underlined two here," Dez pointed to the two addresses written in his Dad's penmanship at the top of the page. "How do we know which one he's gone to?"

"The internet?" Austin offered. "The internet never lies."

"Unless it's written by Tilly Thompson," Dez pointed out, leading the way back to his bedroom to check out the addresses on Zaplook Maps. "Read out the first one to me?" Dez asked as he opened up his laptop.

Austin Read out the two locations to Dez, the first being Dez's aunt's home address and the second being a diner just off of interstate 75 near Lake City.

"Why would he want to remember that?" Dez questioned, looking at the satellite view of the diner once more.

"Maybe that's where he went," Austin suggested, his voice offering a small amount of hope to Dez.

Closing the lid of his laptop Dez sprang up from the bed and began grabbing different items from around his room before stuffing them into his backpack.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to find my dad."

"Dude, that diner is like six hours away, and your dad might not even be there."

"I have to try," Dez said as he sniffed a shirt that had been lying on the floor. "If this was Ally you'd be there in a second."

Austin seemed to consider this for a second but nodded reluctantly. "Fine," He sighed. "Just let me stop by my house to grab some stuff."

"What?"

Austin smirked. "You didn't think I'd let you go alone did you?"

Dez grinned at his best friend. "Thanks buddy. There's just one problem."

"What's that?"

"I don't know how we're gonna get there."

Austin waved his hand airily. "You leave that to me."


	19. Chapter 19

Trish sighed in contentment as she stared into the darkness that had long since swallowed her room. The sun had set long ago and left behind a star dusted sky and humid air. Trish curled up closer to her plump pillow and wrapped a leg around her comforter to feel the cool air flushed in by the expensive air conditioner her parents had installed last summer. Ally snored from the couch on the other side of the room.

Trish envied Ally somewhat for being able to drift into sleep like that, Trish on the other hand was wide awake, every time she closed her eyes she could just see Trent's face looming towards her, and snarl on his lips. Then her eyes would snap open and she'd be welcomed by the darkness and soft snores of her best friend.

It had made her feel good to be able to tell Ally, and it had made her feel even better when she saw the look on pride on Ally's face when she had told her that she'd dumped Trent's low-life butt. It hurt though, both physically and emotionally. Physically because his hand had collided with quite some force to the side of her face, and emotionally because she had actually believed Trent loved her.

Rolling over to face her bedroom door Trish closed her eyes again, hoping that maybe now she could go to sleep and not see Trent's face staring right back at her. Although she did not see his face she did however see a bright flash of light. Trish blinked in confusion at the bright light, before groaning at the sight of her phone flashing.

A text? From Austin? At this time of night?

Trish frowned as she her eyes refocused on her phone, the light illumination her face and hurting her eyes.

**_Come outside – Austin_**

**Are you insane?! No. Why are you even outside my house at this time anyway? – Trish**

It was a few moments before the reply came through.

**_Will explain in the car. Get dressed and hurry up – Austin_**

**No – Trish**

**_I get that you want your beauty sleep or whatever, but Dez is refusing to drive unless you get in the car. Something about nervous driver – Austin_**

Trish sighed and pulled the covers off of her body, before stumbling around in the dark as she headed towards her closet in search of clean clothes. _Why the heck would those idiots wake me at this time?! Not that I was asleep but… _Trish didn't even know why she was complying with Austin's demands, but apparently it had something to do with Dez driving which was never a good idea to being with.

It wasn't that Dez was a bad driver he was just kind of nervous, and Trish was the only one who wouldn't put up with his crazy panic. _That's why they need me, because Dez can't drive without me. Why are they driving now anyway? Especially at this time of night._

Trish pulled out an outfit she hadn't worn in a week, she figured now wasn't the time to be worrying about how fashionably acceptable she looked.

"Trish?"

The Latina stopped suddenly, her jacket half on half off. She had forgotten Ally was staying over, there was no way she could sneak out to see what Austin and Dez were up to now.

"Yes Ally?"

"What are you doing? It's 1am."

"Um, nothing?" Trish lied but she knew Ally wouldn't believe her. "Get dressed."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it." Trish listened in the darkness as she heard Ally get up from the couch and fumble around in the dark for her clothes. "Wear what you were going to wear in the morning, you may want to smell clean for where we're going."

Ally either didn't hear her or as too tired, which ever way Trish didn't care – they had to get outside.

* * *

"Trish, where are we going?" Ally hissed as they crept down the stairs and through the foyer, Trish had no plans for waking up any of 'the help', as her mom referred to them as.

Trish shushed her and pushed her out into the cool outside air. The streetlights were on which made it easy to identify where Austin and Dez were. They were parked across the street in a silver sedan that looked in dire need of a new paint job.

"Is that –" Ally trailed off as she followed Trish across the street and to the car.

"Get in," Trish mumbled holding the car door open so that Ally could slide into the back seat. Thankfully Ally didn't question her, and obliged to her demand. Good. Trish was in no mood to be argued with.

As Trish shut the door and uncomfortable silence fell upon the group. Austin had turned to look at the two girls and smiled apologetically for waking them up, though his eyes didn't linger for too long and Trish put this up to the 'incident' that had occurred between him and Ally earlier in the day. Dez however didn't look up from the map in his lap, he was pouring over it as if he were already lost.

"Well?" Trish snapped, breaking the silence of the car. "Why are we here?"

"Technically it was only supposed to be you," Austin replied fidgeting with his phone.

Ally frowned in hurt. "What d'you mean?"

"Never mind that, they haven't answered my question yet," Trish interrupted, not wanting to get onto the tender subject of Austin and Ally's kiss. She glanced at the back of Dez's head, wondering briefly what he could be so worried about. Other than driving in the middle of the night of course.

Austin sighed and looked at Dez as if asking for support. He got none, the red-head didn't even look up. "Dez wants to go find his dad," He explained. "We think he's somewhere in Lake City –"

"What's that got to do with Trish?" Ally interrupted, still upset by Austin's previous comment.

"Dez can't drive properly without her here. It should have taken us ten minutes to drive here from my house, but because Dez is so nervous it took us almost an hour."

Trish nodded in understanding. Despite her need for sleep, Trish was willing to help. She didn't know why but something inside of her was desperate to help Dez and if that meant driving six hours to Lake City in the middle of the night, then she would.

"Hands at ten and two Dez," Trish leant forward to look at Dez who had finally looked up from his map. He offered her a small smile in return and turned the keys in the ignition, sending the car roaring to life.

"Trish, you're actually going along with this?" Ally seemed to be in disbelief. "I want to help Dez but this is illegal!"

"It's not illegal," Trish scoffed.

"Dez can't drive without an adult in the car, he hasn't got his license yet –"

"He drives with me –"

"You're younger than him! You are not an adult! That's illegal."

"Oh," Trish frowned but got over this news quickly. "Okay, so Dez and I broke the law. Well if we've already done it once may as well do it again."

"Trish!" Ally shrieked, her hand flying up towards her hair to grab a lock. "How can you say that? What we're doing is illegal, as in against the law. We could all go to jail."

"Actually only Austin, Dez and I would, if you get out now then you won't."

Ally didn't move.

"If it helps we'll drive you home first, then of course you too would have been in a car without adult supervision which means you too will go to jail. Therefore you may as well stay in the car," Trish pointed out. By now Ally was such a nervous wreck she didn't seem to notice her friend leaning forward and clipping her seatbelt in. "Step on it Dez."

The car lurched forward and they sped down the road. Ally in a wild panic, Austin's eyes lighting up at the sudden adrenaline rush caused by breaking the law and speeding, and Trish yelling at Dez to slow down because if he didn't they would get caught before their journey had even begun.

"Dez slow down!" Trish yelled, resisting the urge to undo her seatbelt, lean forward and smack Dez. She turned to look at Ally who was no longer chewing on her hair, but was now looking rather pale. Green even… "Dez! Pull over!"

"What? Why?" Dez asked, turning to look back at Trish.

"Dude! Eyes on the road!" Austin exclaimed, leaping forward to grab hold of the steering wheel that Dez had just released.

"Oh, right."

"Pull over!"

Dez took control of the wheel once more and followed Trish's instructions to stop the car. It wasn't the greatest parking in the world, but it would do. Trish moved quickly and unhooked her seatbelt before leaning over Ally and pushing the door open for her friend. There was no time for even the smallest of 'thanks' for Ally's head was already out of the car and vomiting on the sidewalk next to them.

Trish grimaced as she saw the pizza they had ordered for the second time that night. "I think we're good," She pulled an exhausted looking Ally back into the car and returned to her seat behind Austin.

"You okay Als?" Austin asked concerned.

Ally didn't answer, she merely responded with a groan and placed her head against the cool glass of the window next to her.

"Try and drive slowly this time Dez," Trish said, glaring at the red-head through the mirror.

Dez nodded and started the car again, pulling slowly away from the side of the street and back into the road.

"If we keep this up we're not going to make it to Lake City until Wednesday," Ally grumbled from the back seat.

"Does that mean you're okay with this?" Dez asked, a small smile appearing on his lips as he began to feel more comfortable driving.

Ally coughed. "Not completely, but I'm not letting you go to Lake City without me. Anything could happen. Just drive at a steady speed and DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT let go of the steering wheel."


	20. Chapter 20

"Dez!" Austin yelled alongside Trish and Ally. This was the fifth time Dez had let go of the steering wheel because he had been distracted. They had barely been on the road an hour and yet at the rate they were going they wouldn't get there until tomorrow or worse they'd have an accident and die.

"Where are we?" Ally asked.

Austin craned his head to look back at the brunette sat behind Dez. "Just leaving West Palm Beach."

Ally nodded and turned her gaze back to the world outside of the car. Austin sighed. He somewhat wished he had never kissed her. She was his best friend after all, and now he'd gone and ruined that by plantin' one on her right in the middle of the practice room, in front of the guy she liked no less. However, that's not say he regretted the kiss entirely. It was enjoyable, and nice, and awesome, and magical, and… so many other adjectives that Austin could use to describe it yet none of them seemed to do it justice. The kiss was just… wow. And she kissed back.

He looked over his shoulder at her again, making sure she was okay. He'd been worried about her ever since he'd seen her puke on the sidewalk an hour ago. He could tell she was scared, or cold, maybe both. She was shivering slightly and he fought the urge to offer her his jacket, he didn't want to make their already messy friendship worse than it already was.

After five minutes of debating in his head the pros and cons (something he swore he'd picked up from Ally) of giving her his jacket, Austin was just about to take it off and hand it to her when Trish brought up a subject that would no doubt bring a whole bundle of problems, with Ally at least.

"This is fun, in a weird way," Trish stated as she turned away from the dark window, to look at Austin and Dez. "But there's one thing that's bothering me about this whole thing."

"That it's happening in the middle of the night or that it's illegal?" Ally asked, her tone laced with irritation, probably due to her lack of sleep.

"No," Trish waved her off and leant forward as if to block out Ally's incessant grumblings about their illegal journey. "Where did you get the car from?"

And there it was, a subject that had been mutually agreed on being taboo between Dez and Austin.

"Um…" Dez turned his eyes to Austin as if looking for help, but of course the blond was useless. His mouth was opening and closing so quickly that it felt like he was drinking air.

"Dez, Austin. What aren't you telling us?" Ally leant forward too, her shoulders now touching Trish's as they both squeezed together to fit in the gap between the passenger and driver's seats.

"Well you see…" Austin began, hoping to come up with some brilliant lie that both girls would believe.

"We stole it," Dez finished.

Austin almost slapped him self with the palm of his hand. Could Dez have said it any clearer?

"You did what?!" Trish and Ally chorused, both of their eyes wide with shock and anger.

"That's even more illegal than driving it!" Ally cried hysterically as she grabbed a lock of her hair and crammed it into her mouth.

"It's not like we stole it from some random stranger," Austin defended. "It's my mom's so it's not totally illegal."

"It's just as illegal Austin! It's still stolen, since I doubt you told your mom and when she finds out –"

"She's not going to find out."

"Yes she will!" Ally yelled exasperated as she yanked the soggy hair from her mouth so that she could yell with ease. "You think she's not going to notice that her car has been stolen and that you're not home? When she finds out she's going to go nuts! You thought she was angry when you started forgoing school to work on music, well she's going to be livid when she finds out that you broke the law!"

"Ally calm down," Trish said placing a hand on her friends shoulder.

Ally brushed her off, there seemed to be no stopping this tirade. "Do not tell me to calm down! We're breaking the law!"

"We've been breaking the law for an hour," Austin pointed out. He was trying to act cool and collected but on the inside he could not deny that he was beginning to freak out. The pace at which his heart was pounding in his chest proved that. "And we haven't been caught so –"

"We're going to get caught the minute we get back! Or maybe even before that. Do either of your parents know where you are, huh? No, they don't. When your mom sees that you're gone and so is the car she'll call the cops and they'll find us then we'll all get arrested and go to jail and –"

"Shut up both of you!" Trish snapped, glaring at the pair beside her. "Do you want to die? 'Cause if you do then please carry on because your arguing is doing nothing for Dez's driving." Trish had a good point, whilst Austin and Ally had been caught up in their own little world they hadn't noticed the effect it was having on their inexperienced friend. Trish turned to Dez who resembled a terrified woodland creature who had just been caught in the headlights of a truck, or in this case a sedan.

"Okay, Dez? Pull over at the turn off, according to the map app on my phone there's a Mal-Mart not far from here," Trish instructed, as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. Austin couldn't help but notice the small smile that appeared on her lips when Dez nodded and glanced quickly at her through the mirror. _What was that all about?_

"Mal-mart? Why are we stopping there?" Ally asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to keep driving towards Lake City? That way we could get there by the cover of the night and not get caught."

Whatever Trish was about to say was cut off by Dez sharply turning right at Trish's request.

Trish and Austin both laughed along with the driver at the sharp turn. Austin couldn't understand what Ally was so worried about. If she'd just relax for a moment she'd see that driving with Dez felt just like being on a rollercoaster at Dingo World. Then again Ally was afraid of rollercoasters… heck! Ally was afraid of everything.

Austin shrugged and tried not to feel too concerned by the look of nausea on his song writer's face and instead chose to enjoy the speedy journey to Mal-Mart. If he worried then he sense of fun might disappear, and worse still, he might turn into Ally…

* * *

"Ally, Austin you go that way," Trish said as they paused at the front of the super sized store. "Grab snacks and anything else that you think we might need to keep us going for the rest for this trip. Dez, you come with me."

"Wait, what are you and Dez getting?" Ally called after their friend's as they hurried away from them and cut through the clothes department.

Austin shook his head and began walking towards the section of the store that was mostly food. "Come on."

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Things with Ally hadn't been too good after the ki – incident, and now they were even worse after the argument they'd had in the car. Austin knew that she'd made a good point though, and the longer he dwelled on it the more he regretted _borrowing _his mom's car. He didn't regret joining Dez though; he'd do anything for his friends.

"What do we get?" Austin asked, looking up and down the aisles. He was at a loss. What sort of food do you take on a road trip? Aside from pancakes, of course. "Trish didn't exactly say… Maybe we'd be better off stopping by a Fun Burger before we hit Lake City, there's bound to be one on the way, right?"

Ally shook her head and rolled her eyes somewhat playfully. Austin almost jumped for joy at this. That meant things were slowly getting better!

"Austin, fast food may be quick and easy to pick up on the side of the highway, but it contains tons of empty calories and fat that may cause bloating or upset stomach that can make this trip even worse than it already is, and there is no way Trish and I are sitting in a car for the next five hours with a gassy you and Dez."

Austin giggled at the thought but quickly composed himself. "Okay, so what do we bring?"

"Sandwiches are by far one of the best foods to pack as an entrée on a road trip. Not only are they cheap and to make in bulk, they are nutritious and filling," Ally explained as she led him down an aisle filled with coolers stocked with sandwiches, wraps, tiny pot salads and pastas.

"Road trip, huh?" Austin quirked an eyebrow up at her and smirked.

Ally blushed, realizing she had been caught out. "I figure if I just pretend this is a road trip instead of an illegal journey in a stolen car I might stop coughing up hair balls."

"Coughing up hair balls?"

"Chewing my hair has some serious issues, okay?"

* * *

"Finally!" Dez said loudly as he ran across the very empty parking lot to help Austin and Ally with the shopping bags. "I'm starving."

Austin thinking Dez was about to take the heavy paper bag which was over flowing with food off of him released it but instead discovered Dez was only rushing over to grab a cereal bar balancing precariously atop the other items in the bag. The bag dropped to the floor and Austin glared at Dez as he scampered off to join Trish at the car.

"What did you get?" Trish asked taking Ally's bag off of her to search through it.

"Trail mix since it contains protein which will keep Dez alert and focused while driving," Ally said taking the cereal bar from Dez's greedy hands and instead handed him the bag of trail mix. "Cereal bars, crackers, pretzels, um… oh, and Austin's got a ton of bottled water."

"And pancakes," Austin added a large grin on his face; he couldn't wait to get back into the car and start eating them. Austin alongside Dez took the bags and placed them in the trunk of the vehicle.

The foursome regrouped at the side of the car, Trish began talking about some plan she had when Austin frowned and asked, "Hey Ally?"

"Uh, yeah Austin?"

"Where did you get that jacket?"

"What?"

"The jacket," Austin pointed to the burgundy jacket she had on. "Where did you get it?"

"From the store, remember? It was cold in there and it's getting colder out here and – OH MY GOD!"

"What?" Dez, Trish and Austin chorused all feeling an overwhelming sense of panic at Ally's sudden screams.

"The jacket, I didn't buy it! Oh my god, I'm a criminal!" Ally grabbed her hair and stuffed it into her mouth as she simultaneously tried to shrug the jacket off of her body. "What do I do? What do I do?"

No one had time to answer for they were cut off by the shouts of a security guard yelling at them to halt.

"Get in the car!" Trish yelled as she raced towards the passenger seat, Dez quickly following her lead before remembering that he was the driver.

"No Trish, I can explain to him and he'll let us go," Ally said in her attempt to stay calm.

Austin shook his head as he watched the petite brunette begin making her way towards the security guard headed towards her. Austin wasn't dumb, there was no way that guy would just accept that it had all been an accident. He would call them in, call their parents and they'd never make it to Lake City. What Austin did next shocked even himself.

The blond dashed forward and scooped Ally up in his arms before sprinting back towards the car which Dez had already started up. Austin shouted a quick apology to the poor security guard chasing after them as he tossed Ally onto the back seat before jumping in next to her and slamming the door.

"DRIVE! DRIVE! DRIVE!" Trish yelled at Dez, slamming her hands against the car's dashboard as if that would make it move any faster. When they were out of the parking lot and back out onto the interstate, the Mal-Mart security guard far behind them, Trish turned and said, "I've always wanted to do that."

"What? Steal a car? Drive illegally? Rob a Mal-Mart?" Ally snapped.

Austin wasn't concerned, he knew she was angry but since she was leaning against his body and had yet to pull away, she knew she was angry at the situation and not her friends.

Eager to change the topic of conversation Austin asked, "If Ally and I bought food… and stole a jacket, what did you guys buy? Or you know, steal."

Ally jabbed him sharply in the ribs with her elbow obviously unimpressed by his attempt to make light of their criminal activities. "Austin, this isn't funny this is serious. We could get arrested and go to prison and die!"

"Why would we die in prison?" Dez snickered at her worries; Trish too seemed to be highly entertained by Ally's reasoning.

"Well, you and Austin won't because you're tall so people will be afraid of you, and Trish is Trish so she'll be fine," The Latina in question smiled with pride and nodded along in agreement. "But I'll get eaten alive in prison because I'm small. Haven't you ever watched Beyond Scared Straight?!"

"Ally, relax. Everything will be fine," Austin assured her, booping her on the nose playfully.

"Anyway, whilst you two were flirting, Dez and I were putting our plan into action."

"We weren't flirting," Austin blushed embarrassed. Okay, so maybe he was flirting but Ally wasn't… at least he thought she wasn't… he hoped she was though.

Trish rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Dez pull over when I say."

"Why?" Ally asked, Austin just seconds behind her.

A mischievous smirk began pulling at the corners of Trish's lips. "You'll see."


	21. Chapter 21

Ally wasn't going to lie, she was scared. Her body was trembling and if she wasn't trying to break the habit she would have been chewing her hair by now. Her body was pressed up against Austin's, who had his arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulders, keeping her warm since she refused to put the stolen jacket back on.

They had come off of the interstate twenty minutes ago and were now traveling down a road which in Ally's opinion could hardly be considered a road as it was more dirt than anything else. The long, overgrown branches which stretched out from the hedges on either side of the 'road' scratched nosily against the car windows, creating a sound resembling that of nails against a chalk board.

Ally daren't ask where they were going, through fear that Trish might kill her with yet another dirty look, something Ally had been earning herself frequently on this trip due to her constant panicking and questioning.

It was nearing on four in the morning, and all Ally could see were the dark shapes of the plants at the side of the road, until suddenly she couldn't see anything but darkness. Dez had pulled off of the road and into a field.

"Dez what are you doing?" Ally whispered though she didn't know why.

Dez didn't reply, he merely turned to Trish as if to ask for his next task. The Latina nodded and climbed out of the car, Dez following suit. Austin turned to look down at Ally, silently asking what she thought they should do. Sighing Ally reluctantly unclipped her seatbelt and slid across the backseat to climb out.

Outside of the car it was cold and Ally suddenly missed the hot sun she often complained about when they visited the beach.

"Guys, what's the plan?" Austin asked, his voice startling Ally as he was so loud in comparison to the silence that surrounded them. She could hardly make out his face, just the main features like his nose, ears and hair.

""Dez, you doofus. You forgot to turn the lights on," Trish complained clipping Dez across the back of his head with hand as she moved around to the trunk of the car.

Ally pulled her phone out of her pocket, the tiny 'No Service' in the top left hand corner making her shudder uncomfortably. Turning the brightness up as high as possible Ally turned the cell phone to use as a torch to show her what Trish was doing.

Trish was leant over the trunk of the car, looking for whatever she and Dez had bought from Mal-Mart not too long ago. "Austin, here take this."

Austin, due to the dark, fumbled the catch and whatever Trish had tossed him landed on the floor and rolled slightly allowing Ally to see what it was. "Spray paint? What's this for?" Austin asked as he picked the canister up and shook it.

"We're going to disguise the car," Trish answered simply as she handed Dez a canister also.

"Trish we can't spray paint Mrs Moon's car," Ally hissed, her voice still quiet for reasons unknown. It was as though she were afraid of being overheard. "That's vandalism. How many crimes are we going to commit today, huh? Well I for one am not going to take part in this." The brunette folded her arms across her chest and held her head up high, internally hoping that her friends would soon realize the error of their ways and follow her lead. There had to be a far more logical, much less illegal way of working this out.

"We didn't expected you to."

"You didn't."

"No," Trish shook her head. "This is for you."

Ally frowned as she was handed a roll of duct tape. "Tape? What's this for?"

"Look, Ally, before we do this you need to know this is for your own good," Trish explained as she handed another roll of tape to Dez. The pair moved towards Ally, who subconsciously began moving backwards.

"Do what?" Ally laughed nervously. "What are you guys talking about?"

She could see Austin watching on from her right. He looked just as confused as she felt. _What are Trish and Dez playing at?_

Ally yelped in surprise as she was leapt on by Dez, who lifted her effortlessly from the ground. Her body shook furiously as she tried to escape his grasp, but she was prevented by Trish who had snatched the duct tape which Ally had dropped on the ground and began wrapping it around Ally's active legs.

"It's for your own good Ally," Trish said as she wrapped the tape firmly around Ally's arms. "Austin, grab the beach chair from the trunk."

Ally's eyes swiveled to look in Austin's direction, pleading him to ignore Trish's instruction and instead help her. The blond seemed torn, but in the end chose to oblige Trish's request. One trip to the trunk later and Austin was back holding out the colourful beach chair and handing it to Trish.

Deciding Ally was firmly wrapped up, Trish released the girl and left her to be kept held up by Dez who was mumbling his apologies to the small girl in his arms. Once the beach chair was opened and on the ground, Dez did his best to place her gently on the chair without harming her, not that there was anything Ally could do to help she was wrapped up so tight that her body now resembled that of an Egyptian mummy.

Ally didn't say anything as she watched the remaining members of Team Austin spray paint Mrs Moon's car. She didn't even listen to their hushed conversations after a while; she just looked up at the night sky, deciphering different constellations.

"Hey Ally."

The brunette turned her head away from the sky and caught sight of Austin walking towards her. Not impressed that he had helped Trish not her she scowled at him before looking back up at the stars. She knew he was getting closer to her, and she wondered if he was going to untie her. No such luck. Austin took a seat beside her on the floor, making the long grass move as he did and graze against a bare strip of leg that Trish had missed when taping Ally up.

Austin didn't say anything for a while, he just looked up at the stars with her and played with the empty canister of spray paint in his hands. "Do you ever think about us?"

Ally blinked. _Did he just say what I think he just said?_

"What?" Ally stammered out, having been thrown into a spin by the implication of his question.

Austin's jaw dropped as the realization of what he had just asked and what it implied dawned on him. "Oh, not like us in a 'you and me' kind of way….but you and me - in a how did you and me end up together – and when I say together – I don't mean 'together' together…. just here at the same time….partnered together…. Do you think that …'us' …'we' were incidental, accidental or intentional… you know placed….together? "

Then he continued his tone lower almost as an aside "Or maybe we were just meant to be together? Not that 'we' are 'together' together, but here we are now, here, together…." Austin sputtered to a stop after exhausting his internal dialogue; ending looking as if he'd just confused himself and talked himself in a circle, ending where began - with the very personal implication.

Ally simply stared at him, not really knowing what to say. His question had confused her, especially after the whole kissing incident the day before. "Um… As in musical partners?"

Austin nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, that's it. That's what I meant. Do you ever think about it?"

Ally shrugged and bit her lip. How could she word this? Of course she'd thought about them together, both as friends and more but she didn't know how to tell him without making it sound totally confusing or weird for them both. Austin didn't like her that much was obvious. Sure he'd kissed her but like he said, _'it meant nothing'_. Plus she had Elliot, she didn't want Austin. Pfft! Okay, so maybe she did slightly, in the most tiny hardly noticeable way possible she might like him as more than a friend but he'd never like her. Ever. So why ruin something so good by taking a chance on something else which wasn't even there?

"I think about us," Ally said quietly, she refused to look at him instead deciding to turn her eyes back to the tiny twinkling dots in the sky. "I think about where we'll be in ten years and if we'll still be partners, friends… I wonder what will happen to Team Austin in the long run. Will we all stick together or will we go our separate ways? Will the only time I see you be when I turn on the TV and there you are smiling back at me in an interview or from a clip of your latest music video?" Ally went to move her hand to wipe her eyes which were beginning to brim with tears but was stopped by the unnecessary duct tape strapping her to the chair.

Austin however hadn't noticed her dilemma and was fidgeting with a strand of grass in his hand; the empty paint canister lay forgotten at his side. "It could be the other way around you know."

"What d'you mean?" Ally inquired hoping her voice would not give away the sadness this topic had brought up within her.

"you could be the famous one," Austin said making Ally laugh dryly. "Just hear me out on this one. Ally, you're talented. Beyond talented even. The things you can do when you're sat in front of a piano, it's… it's magical. I hate that you don't see what I see. You're amazing Ally, and one day the whole world is gonna know that. You just have to show them."

Ally smiled lopsidedly at Austin's small speech. "Thank Austin."

He shrugged. "You don't need to thank me, it's the truth. Besides, it's because of you that people know who I am, without you I'd still be sat in my bedroom singing bad songs about pancakes, LeBron James and cheerleaders."

Ally giggled and Austin turned to smile at her, his hair falling in his eyes just perfectly in Ally's opinion.

"I owe you everything Ally Dawson."

A small smirk appeared on Ally's face, something which was not a common appearance on her innocent features. "You owe me anything, huh?"

Austin nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"In which case, I'm cashing that in now."

"Huh?"

"Untie me," Ally wiggled around in her chair as much as she could as if to show Austin how desperate she was to be released.

"If Trish kills me I'm coming back to haunt you," He chuckled as he got up from the long grass and moved to start ripping the tape.

It didn't take Austin long to unwrap her, in fact he worked surprisingly quickly despite not being able to see very much.

"Thanks Austin," Ally smiled as she stretched her body and climbed out of the chair.

The blond opened his mouth to reply but was cut short by a loud screech a few metres away. "DEZ!"

Ally jumped startled at Trish's yelling, her foot caught on the bottom of the chair sending her falling forwards towards the ground. Luckily for Ally she happened to be standing right next to a boy with incredibly fast reflexes. Austin caught her in his arms, and from what Ally could see in the dark, blushed slightly at the situation.

"Thanks," She murmured looking up at him. She felt dazed by the position they were in the and the effect the moonlight was having as it lit up behind his head, creating the most surreal yet beautiful moments of Ally's short life. It felt as though she were in a movie.

However unlike the movies, the moment was brought to an abrupt stop as the sound of Trish yelling in Spanish at their red-headed friend drifted over to their ears, once again startling them both and causing Austin to lose his grip on Ally, sending her dropping to floor much like he had at Trish's Quincenera.

Maybe Ally would leave those kind of moments where they belonged, in the movies.


	22. Chapter 22

Dez had never been one to buy into 'out of body experiences'. Aliens, yes. Zombies, sure. Zaliens, of course. Out of body experiences, no. Or at least that was how he'd felt up until he and his friends had pulled into the parking lot of Loraine's Diner, just outside of Lake City.

It was like he was watching TV at home, only this time he was the star of the show. The very nervous star. Paralysed, that's what he was. Rooted to his seat, refusing to move and he could feel three different pairs of eyes staring at him making him feel increasingly uncomfortable.

"You know what? Why don't we just turn around?" Dez laughed nervously, secretly hoping his friends with agree with the idea and let him switch the car back on.

"Oh no," Trish shook her head, a look of determination setting in. "We did not just drive six hours out of Miami, steal a car, vandalise a car and get banned from a Mal-Mart for nothing. You're gonna get out of this car and give your dad a piece of your mind!"

Dez wasn't sure how she managed to do it but Trish had given him the courage to do it. Well, she'd given him the courage to unbuckle his seatbelt at least.

"Guys, can you give Dez and I am minute?" Trish asked Austin and Ally.

The duo looked ready to refuse but changed their minds after receiving a death glare from Trish. Austin and Ally silently climbed out of the car and walked over to the diner entrance to look at the menu outside. Once she was positive Austin and Ally would not return Trish turned all of her attention back to Dez.

"What's wrong with you?" She smacked him across the back of his head.

"Ouch!" Dez whined his own hand automatically flying up to rub the area of his had that had just been attacked. "What was that for?"

"What was that for?" Trish said exasperated. "That was because you need some sense smacked into you. Why are you so scared all of a sudden?"

"What if I was wrong?" He mumbled. "What if my dad doesn't want to come back and we drove all the way out her for nothing?"

Trish frowned. "You need some sleep."

"What?"

"You need some sleep, you're obviously over tired because you've been driving all night because you really aren't the Dez I know. The Dez I know wouldn't be focusing on the 'what if's and the 'buts', he would be smiling and marching in there with an open mind and rainbows sprouting out of every orifice."

Dez snickered. "You said butts."

"There's the Dez I know and love! Now get in there Doofus and do me proud."

"You love me, huh?" Dez raised his eyebrows and smirked at the Latina next to him.

Trish rolled her eyes before getting very close to Dez. "What I am about to say does not leave this car, understood Freckles?"

Her voice was nothing more than a growl and it shook Dez to the bone so much so that he could merely nod in response. Trish pulled away from him somewhat and lifted her arm as if to hit him. Dez cowered but was surprised when pain did not follow. Instead he looked back to Trish who was pointing to a small scar just above her elbow.

"Dez, my love for you is like this scar, ugly, but permanent."

Dez smiled. "Thanks Trish." He moved to hug her but she held up her arms to block him.

"Nu-uh. You have a dad to go find."

"Right!" Dez nodded and scrambled out of the vehicle, his mind now focused on his initial purpose for being six hours out of Miami.

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" Ally asked walking over to Trish and Dez who had finally gotten out of the car.  
"

Pep talk," Trish shrugged. "What's on the menu here?"

"Pancakes!" Austin grinned.

"Anything else?"

The excitable blond shrugged. "I don't know, I wasn't looking for anything else."

"Whatever guys, your stomachs aren't the most important things here at the moment. We're here for Dez, remember?" Ally pointed out, she smiled warmly at the redhead before her face suddenly contorted with panic. "Oh no!"

"What? What's wrong?" Austin asked his voice oozing with concern for his friend.

Had Ally not been quite so freaked at that moment, and had his mind not been preoccupied with thoughts of his family, Dez might have smirked in amusement at Austin's worry. Austin loves Ally - He singsonged in his head.

"I was supposed to babysit today for Mrs Anderson. There's no way we'll be back in time for me to do it," Ally moaned.

Austin chuckled and look of relief washing over his face. "That's what you're so freaked out about? Chill, you can just call Mrs Anderson and explain."

"But Austin I would have let her down, she's going to be so disappointed in me. Where is she going to find child care now, especially on such short notice. Gah! I'm such a terrible person."

Austin placed an arm around Ally's shoulders to comfort her. "It'll be fine Ally. If it helps I'll call Mrs Anderson and explain for you, I'll even offer her an alternative."

Ally shook her head. "No, it's my responsibility. I'll do it. My cousin can probably do it. She lives closer to Mrs Anderson anyway and she needs the money."

"Tessa? The one who has to turn the lights on 14 times or the oceans will dry up?" Trish chipped in.

"Ally, why would she leave her kids with someone who has such an important job?" Dez asked, now genuinely interested in the conversation and less distracted by Austin and Ally's blatant love for each other.

No one answered his question however, none of them really knowing whether the redhead was being serious or not.

Trish shook her head. "None of this matters right now. Ally you can call Mrs Anderson later, Austin you can flirt with Ally later," Dez couldn't help but notice how both Austin and Ally blushed at Trish's comment, and Austin wasted no time in removing his arm from Ally's shoulders. "Dez you can ask dumb questions later. Now is not the time. Right now, we have to get inside and find out if your dad is here or if we just wasted the past six hours of our lives and a whole tank of gas to get here."

* * *

The diner was practically empty, though that was to be expected as it had only opened for the day thirty minutes ago. The windows that spread across the front of the building allowed the early morning sunlight to flood into the room and cast shadows on the floor. The smell of bacon, pancakes, eggs and other pleasant smells wafted around Dez's nostrils as he crossed the diner with his friends to find a booth where they had a clear view of the car outside - Ally had an insane fear that someone would try to steal it while they were inside. Personally Dez disagreed, in daylight he could now see clearly what a poor job he, Trish and Austin had done with the paint the previous night. In fact, one side of the car had a large pink section on it, that explained why Trish had yelled at him last night. He must have picked up the wrong paint in his haste to get out of Mal-Mart.

"I don't think your dads here Dez," Ally said as she slid into the booth, her body pressed up against the window as Austin jumped in next to her eager to sit next to the small brunette.

Dez offered Trish the window seat on their side, allowing her to slid in before him as he looked around the small diner. Ally was right, there didn't appear to be anybody else there except for them and the elderly couple in the corner. That wasn't including the waitress, but Dez felt pretty sure that the blonde in the pale yellow dress wasn't his father.

"Can we order now?" Austin asked, his lower lip jutting out in a pout. "I'm starving."

"How can you still be hungry?" Ally gaped. "You ate almost everything we bought back at Mal-Mart."

"I'm a growing boy," Austin shrugged as he grabbed a menu from the stand in the middle of the table.

"I don't know why you're looking at that, we all know what you're going to get," Trish said, peering over the top of her own menu to look at him.

Austin opened his mouth to respond but whatever he had been about to say went upon deaf ears for his friends had now turned their attention to the other side of the diner, where a young girl was giggling and squealing happily as she ran out of the door which presumably lead to the kitchen.

"Awww, she's cute," Ally cooed.

The girl looked to be ten years old, maybe a little younger. Her hair was a vibrant auburn colour and there was a large grin plastered on her lips as she ran excitedly towards them. The child clutched a small pad of paper in her hands and she straightened out her dress as she came to a halt beside their table.

"Good morning!" She flashed the group a smile, showing off the gaps in her teeth where her baby teeth had fallen out. "I'm Abbie and I will be your waitress this morning. Can I get you any drinks?"

The members of Team Austin had not chance to reply before Abbie squealed in delight and ducked under the table.

"Abbie! what have I told you about bothering the customers?"

The blonde waitress who had previously been attending to the elderly couple across the diner had made her way over and was now stood, hands on her hips staring with authority at the child who had now latched on to Austin's leg.

"But Mom!" Abbie whined. "I just wanted to help."

"I've told you before, you're too young for this," The waitress dropped to her knees only to return to her feet seconds later with her daughter at her side. "Sorry about her. She doesn't mean to be a bother -"

"Oh, she was no trouble," Ally assured her, sending a warm smile in Abbie's direction. "She's really quite sweet."

"Go find Daddy, see if he'll take you to the park," The waitress ruffled the little girl's hair as she sped off away from the table. "And don't bug Sal, I need him to be ready for the breakfast rush and in the kitchen waiting." The woman dug around in the pouch on the front of her apron and soon pulled out a notepad similar to the one Abbie had been holding. "Hi, I'm Lorraine and I will be your waitress this morning. Can I take your order?"

"Sure, can we get four Peppy-Colas please?" Trish asked surprisingly politely considering the minimal amount of sleep she had gotten. "One stack of pancakes, two 'Just-outta-bed' breakfast specials, one toast in the morning and a bowl of porridge oats."

"No problem," Lorraine smiled as she wrote down their order. "I'll be right back with your drinks."

"How did you know what I wanted?" Ally asked creating conversation.

Trish snorted. "I've been your best friend since Pre-K, you kinda pick these things up over the years."  
"How come Austin doesn't know that sort of thing about me?" Dez whined, though his heart wasn't really in it. He was feeling rather bummed out since they'd traveled all this way for nothing.

"I do!" Austin defended. "How do we know it's not you who knows nothing about me?"

"You're sixteen years old. You love pancakes, the colour yellow and stuffed animals; specifically Dougie the Dolphin whom you've slept with in bed since Ally gave him to you. You've wanted to be an overnight internet sensation since the fourth grade. You used to be afraid of umbrellas and though you deny it you have a tiny fear of spiders. You don't like broccoli and doctor's offices creep you. When you were five you wished to be stuck in a freezer full of ice-cream but at the same time you also wanted to wish for a pony. Oh, and you have a huge crush on Al -"

"Okay Dez, we get it. You know me," Austin jumped in, shooting his friend a death glare for almost giving away his secret.

"A crush? You have a crsuh on someone?" Ally asked. If Dez's observation skills were correct, he could have sworn Ally was jealous.

Dez didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation, for his friends were silenced by yet another squeal from Abbie only this time her squeal was followed by a jolly chortle. Dez frowned, he recognised that laugh.

Across the room, laughing and playing with a young girl who called him 'Daddy' was in fact Dez's dad.

"Dad?" Dez whispered, attracting the attention of those around him. He felt Trish's hand on his shoulder and he shrugged her off not wanting to mean but at the same time not wanting this to be real. He wanted to be dreaming. He wanted to have never come here in the first place. How could he have been so stupid?

"Daddy come meet my new friends!" Abbie giggled, dragging Chaz along towards the table.

Dez sunk down lower in his seat, silently hoping that the ground would just swallow him up there and then. Chaz however did not seem to recognise his son or Austin until he was standing right next to them, he was far to preoccupied with Abbie.

"Dez?" Chaz choked out, his eyes wide with realisation. "What - what are you doing here?"

Dez shrugged. He didn't want to talk to his dad, not now, not ever. The worst part of it all was that he could tell, just by looking at him, that Chaz was far happier here than he was back home with Virginia.

"We came looking for you."

Dez turned to his left, expecting it to have been Trish preparing to rip his dad a new one. This was not the case. It was Ally who was glaring furiously at the middle-aged man in front of them.  
"How dare you do this to Dez, you - you - you jerk!" Ally snapped, suddenly looking a lot less like a defenseless woodland creature.

"Abbie, go find Mommy," Chaz ushered his apparent daughter away and turned his attention back to Dez. "Son, I can explain."

"Can you?" Ally bit back, she was quickly prevented from making anymore comments by Austin who had stuffed a napkin into her mouth.

Chaz sighed. "Things with your Mom and I haven't been good for a while now, as you know." Did he know that? As far as Dez could recall things had been the same way they had always been, up until that big fight the other night... "I met Lorraine a few years ago, after you Mom and I had gotten into another argument over some thing or another. I don't really care. The thing is, Lorraine - well, she makes me happy. A lot happier than your mom ever made me. Unfortunately, your mom and I - I loved your mom Dez, I still do. I'm just not in love with her, but I am in love with Lorraine. Your mom will be fine, and so will you. I'll still see you. I'll come down and visit you, then when you get a car you can come up and visit me. I'd love for you to get to know Lorraine and - and Abbie too."

"Does Mom know you cheated on her?" Dez asked, his voice low.

Chaz frowned and looked away, searching for an answer that wouldn't upset Dez further. There wasn't one. "No, she does not. Dez, you need to understand that I'm not coming back. My life is here now with Lorraine and Abbie. My daughter needs me."

"And what about your son? He needs you too!" Ally said her voice seeping with venom. Dez silently thanked her for saying the words he couldn't get out.

"Dez is a grown boy, and like I said I'll still be there for him. By phone call, email or even by bus trip until he gets a car. Abbie, she's just a kid, she needs her father."

Dez didn't say anything he just got up from his seat, tossed the money to cover the cost of their breakfasts which would now go uneaten on the table and walked away.

"Son wait."

Apparently Ally still had his back. "Don't you dare call him son. A son is a boy or man in relation to either or both of his parents, you are not his parent. You gave up that right when you abandoned him and his mother days ago. From what I hear you weren't much of a father before then either. To Dez or Abbie. After all you couldn't have been in two places at once. Whenever you were at home with Dez you just sat on your lazy butt and watched TV," Ally prodded Chaz in the chest with her index finger. "You sir, are by no means a father. You are a jerk. A complete and utter jerk. Maybe if she's smart Lorraine will realise that too because you don't deserve happiness."

Dez knew Ally would have gone on defending his 'honor' for much longer but Ally was too nice a girl to say anything mean and if she did she would end up regretting it later which would turn her into a nervous wreck until she apologised. Austin seemed to realise this too, and swooped across to Ally, scooping her up into his arms and taking her outside.

"Dez," Chaz tried again, as he watched his child hold the door open for his friends.

"Don't," Trish said threateningly to the man. Her eyes were dark and her voice was low. Ally may have been angry but Trish was calm, something which scared Dez way more because when Trish was calm it was usually a warning that the storm was soon to come.

Trish stepped away from Chaz and made her way over to Dez, taking him gently by the arm and joining Austin and Ally who were waiting beside the car.

"That guy was such a jerk," Ally grumbled as she climbed into the back seat with Austin. "He makes me so angry. Ugh! Let's slash his tires!"

Austin raised his eyebrows at her. "I think we've committed enough crimes for one day."

"Ally, you're being so spiteful and vindictive," Trish said glancing over her shoulder.

"Compliments? This early in the day?" Ally said sarcastically.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you act like this," Trish smirked. "Me likey."

"It's not my fault. I just hate that guy so much for what he's done to Dez."

Dez, despite the hurt he was feeling, smiled. It was in that moment that it struck him as to what great friends he had. His friends had broken laws, committed crimes, lied, and spent six hours in a car with him only to be met with failure. Yet, here they stood defending him instead of complaining about all their wasted time. For that Dez was truly happy, for he may have lost a father but what did that matter when he had friends as great as his?


	23. Chapter 23

"What do you mean you got a letter from MUNY?"

"Shhhh!" Ally hissed, slamming her hand over Trish's mouth.

The duo looked around the silent waiting room before continuing their conversation in hushed whispers. They had just returned from their six hour journey back to Miami and both girls were exhausted, their eyes drooping as sleep tried to take over and their mouths opening wide every once in a while as they yawned. Trish found that the silence of the room around them was not helping, the only noises that she could hear aside from Ally's yawning were shrill ring of a telephone and the tapping of Jimmy Starr's secretary's nails against the computer keys.

Trish couldn't quite place a finger on it, maybe because she was so tired, but something about the Starr records building looked different this morning. Usually there were framed posters of Jimmy's latest and greatest acts hanging on the walls, today they were missing. The office wasn't quite so busy today either, granted Trish had only been in the lobby, the elevator and waiting room outside Jimmy's office but they were unnaturally quiet and lacked their usual hustle and bustle - especially the lobby.

Trish shook her head, her corkscrew curls bouncing as she did. Now was not the time to be focusing on the decor of Starr Records, not when her best friend had dropped a bombshell on her. The second bombshell of the morning. The fourth bombshell in twenty four hours, and considering how exhausted Trish was, she wasn't sure how much she could take.

"Would you be quiet?" Ally whisper yelled. "I don't want anyone else finding out."

"Who here is gonna tell? Jimmy's assistant?"

"Secretary."

"Like it matters!" Trish frowned. Her head was beginning to throb from her impending migraine and she wanted nothing more than to cuddle up in bed with her blanket she had knitted during her brief stint at the Yarn Barn and sleep.

"Jimmy's secretary wasn't who I was referring to. I was talking about Austin," Ally explained turning her head to look around the room once more just in case Austin had returned from the bathroom.

Trish nodded, finally understanding Ally's fear. The group had been through a lot in the past twenty four hours, Ally didn't want to put even more strain on them. "What are you gonna do?"

"Turn it down," Ally answered easily. "Dez needs us. All of us. He's going through a really hard time right now and I want to be there for him in any way I can. You need me... I think."

Trish laughed. "Of course I need you Ally. You're my best friend. Who else is gonna tell me off when I'm mean to Dez, or mean to anyone for that matter?"

Ally giggled in agreement. "Exactly. Plus Austin has just gotten his big break, there's no way I could even consider abandoning him at a time like this. I like being a part of Team Austin. Sure, MUNY is a great school that could really take me places but Miami is my home and there's no way I could ever dream of giving it up. Or giving you guys up."

"I'm glad you know what you want," Trish smiled. "And you're right about Dez, he does need us."

Ally raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Did you just show that you cared about Dez?"

The Latina blushed. "Of course I care about him. We're... friends. Its okay when I upset him, because I never really mean it and he always forgives me, but for his own father to treat him that way? That's just not right."

Ally nodded in agreement. No kid deserved to be treated that way, especially Dez.

"Austin?" Jimmy Starr poked his head around his solid wood office door, only to be greeted by the faces of Ally and Trish. "Where's Austin?"

"I'm here!" The blond rockstar jogged into the room, a small frown on his face. "Hey Jimmy, what happened to the liquid soap you usually have in the bathroom?"

Trish and Ally both turned to look at their friend in amusement.

"What? I like my hands to smell like lemons. It's nice," Austin said defensively, his voice rasing an octave or two in the process.

"Actually Austin that's what I brought you here to talk about," Jimmy said, his voice deep and smooth like silk.

"You brought me here to talk about liquid soap?" Austin asked confused. Trish couldn't help but notice Ally stifle a giggle at the adorable expression on their friend's face, even Trish had to admit that Austin's look of confusion was kinda sweet.

Jimmy frowned at the boy's naivety before stepping aside to allow him past. "Why don't you step into my office. We have a lot to discuss."

Despite desperately wanting to let her eyes drop shut, Trish did not. The expression on Jimmy's face told her she might want to pay attention during this meeting. For a second Trish wondered if she should suggest they postpone the meeting until Dez could join them, though something told her that may not be the best of ideas and not just because whatever Jimmy was going to say seemed important but also because she wasn't sure when Dez would be joining them again.

The usually bouncy redhead had been subdued during their journey home. Granted he had perked up somewhat when they had hit the half way mark but when they had pulled up outside Austin's house he'd become lifeless once more. Maybe it was the sudden reality of the trouble they were going to be in, specifically with the Moons and possibly the police. Or maybe it was the shock of his father's betrayal setting in once more. Or could it have been the crippling thought of returning to his Mom, carrying the burden of the information he had collected on their trip? Trish wouldn't have been surprised if it was all three.

"Now I bet you're all wondering why I have called this meeting here today?"

"Yup," Austin said, his eyes alight with excitement, something which Trish found surprising considering the boy was pretty much running on empty at this point. If he was a puppy, Trish felt for sure Austin's tail would have been wagging rapidly at that moment. Not that she didn't know why. Austin was thinking the same thing she was. One word: Tour. It was all Team Austin could have hoped for and more. Especially after the crummy twenty four hours they'd experienced before the meeting.

Trish was excited for her friend and she could tell Ally was too. The young girls eyes were practically shining with adoration, anticipation and excitement as she took in Austin's behaviour. Family problems aside, she knew Dez would be excited too.

"As you might have noticed the office has undergone some changes since you were last here."

"Yeah. Seriously, you might want to talk to you bathroom attendants about this liquid soap issue," Austin commented, causing a small smirk to form on Trish's lips. In her head she could almost hear Dez's response. It would be something sillier. Something wilder. Something totally crazy. Something Dez.

Jimmy opened his mouth to reply but seemed to think better of it. "Yes, that and some of the usual posters are missing from the room outside and -"

"Now that you mention it, I did notice that," Trish piped up.

"I did too, and it's a lot quieter here than usual. I haven't seen any of the people I usually see. In fact the only other person I've seen other than you, Mr Starr, is your secretary." Ally began laughing. "It's like all your employees turned into Trish. Get it? Because their not here! Hahaha!" The brunette soon sobered up when she saw no one else found her joke quite so hilarious.

"Right. Well that's because I've had to let a few people go."

"What? Why?" The trio said in unison. An uneasy feeling was beginning to build in Trish's stomach, and something told her it wasn't due to that burger they'd gotten at the Fasty's Really Fast Food drive-thru on the way here.

The man in front of them sighed heavily. "Starr Records is under new management."

"What? Why?" Came the chorus.

"As you may or may not know, I recently invested a lot of money into a new band, Teen Rage," Jimmy explained. Trish couldn't help but turn her nose up in disgust. Of course Trish knew who Teen Rage were. They'd been on the cover of every magazine over th past couple of months for their bad behaviour and horrible attitudes. She'd even seen them in the studio once and they'd been totally disgusting in her opinion. Sure, Trish was aggressive and maybe a slacker, but she had nothing on Teen Rage.

"Sure, they are, um... nice," Ally said, though Trish felt that may have been the biggest lie she'd heard in weeks, and that included Austin and Ally's denial about liking each other.

"Well, Teen Rage are not the tidiest of people nor are they the most careful or responsible or - anyway, my point is they ended up costing me a lot of money... money which I don't have..."

"But... b-but you're rich, you own Starr Records, there's no way one band lost you all your money!" Austin exclaimed. He was now standing up from his chair, both Ally and Trish were watching him, concern written all over their faces.

"One band didn't, they just finished me off," Jimmy said calmly, and Trish hoped his demeanor would rub off on Austin who appeared to be a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. "Like most business men, I have made some investments in my time. Some wise, some not so wise."

"And...!" Austin pushed. Trish just wanted this day to be over. First Dez and now Austin. This meeting was headed in a bad direction, that much was obvious.

"Starr Records is going into administration," Jimmy's tone was grave, and his dark eyes were set on Austin's perhaps trying to convey some form of comfort to the boy.

Austin wasn't getting it. "What does that mean?" He asked. He was still stood up and Trish knew he was trying to remain looking strong and angry, but all Trish could see was the lost look in his usually bright brown eyes.

"It means an external independent source takes over the running of the company, like paying off debts and claiming from creditors etcetera, the administrative duties," Ally explained. Her eyes were locked on Austin but he didn't seem to notice for he was still busy watching Jimmy as if looking for some kind of explaination, one that didn't make him want to bawl like a young child.

Trish was frozen to her chair, she didn't know her place in all of this. It was Ally's job to comfort Austin, not hers. Even if it was her job she wouldn't know how to do it anyway. Trish had never been one for comforting people in times of hardship, it still surprised her how well she had handled Dez when he had told her of his parents split.

"Austin," Ally said softly as she rose to her feet and placed a soft hand on his arm, tearing his attention away from the former record label giant and to herself. "I know this is hard for you to hear, but you have to stay clam and listen, okay?"

Austin nodded, before turning back to Jimmy.

Jimmy, taking this a good sign continued. "The people in charge are letting go of all my acts until I can afford to rebuild my, music empire as you once put it. I am so sorry Austin but until things return to normal, you are no longer signed to Starr Records."

Even though it wasn't her career going being ripped away from her, Trish's heart broke. Not for herself, but for her friend. This was all he'd ever wanted and more, he'd just began living his dream and now he'd had it ripped away from him. It was harsh, even for Trish.

Austin swallowed, nodding in Jimmy's direction though he was no longer looking at the man. "I understand. It was an honour just to have been given the chance. Thank you." With that the young blond spun on his heel and exited the room. Ally and Trish following quickly behind him.

It wasn't until they were in the lobby, the painfully quiet, lobby, did any of them speak. Speaking wasn't even intentional, in fact Trish wished it had never happened because it was in that moment that she actually believed all hope was lost.

Austin had darted out of the elevator, his long legs carrying him away faster than Ally and Trish could keep up with.

"Austin wait!" Ally called after him, like Trish, she was desperately willing her legs to move faster so they could keep up. "Austin STOP!"

He was nearing the exit now, any second he'd be outside and gone. Jogging off to who knows where. Maybe the practice room, he always seemed to run there when he was upset or angry.

"Austin Moon!" Ally yelled, her nostrils now flaring. this notified Trish that she should be prepared to rush to her friend's aid for any second now Ally was going to start crying.

"What?" Austin yelled, spinning around to face the two girls in the empty space that had once been so full of life. The blond's usually soft features had contorted into an almost unrecognisable appearance, it was hard for Trish to even look at him and she could hardly imagine how painfully this was for Ally, let alone Austin.

Ally bit her lip and took a cautious step forwards. "Calm down. It's okay."

Austin sped towards them at an alarming speed before coming to a halt a few feet away. "How can you say that?" He asked incredulously. "My dream... your dream... our dream, and it's gone. Gone forever."

"No it's not," Ally moved forward slightly, her body lurched towards as if on impulse though Trish held her back. It wasn't that Trish didn't trust Austin, because she did. She would trust him with her life, but she had never seen him like this and that scared her. He was being unpredictable, and that was unlike him. Maybe it was because Dez wasn't around to help him through this or maybe he'd always had this hot tempered side and Trish had only just met it. Either way Trish didn't want to send Ally out into the battle field with him just yet, not until she was sure of his actions. After Trent she was finding it hard to trust people when they were like this.

"Your dream is still there Austin," Ally continued. "And so is mine. It's just gonna take a little longer to achieve that's all. You're sixteen years old, some people wait their whole lives for this and you, you got lucky. Your name is out there, people know who you are. You have fans! You have an album! But most of all you have Team Austin, and we will be there for you every step of the way, even after a new record label picks you up."

For a second it almost seemed as if Austin was going to smile. It seemed as though he was going to smile, hug Ally and then they would all go have lunch at Mini's, including Dez, before he and Ally would return to the practice room to whip up a new song. That's what it seemed like.

The reality was far, far worse.

Austin didn't even flinch as he spoke. His voice was cold as was his overall attitude, though his eyes were conveying so much pain and hurt, Trish almost felt conflicted as to whether she should slap him or hug him. "Team Austin is over."


	24. Chapter 24

As a child most young boys are taught that 'real' men don't cry. Sometimes it's passed off as only sand in their eyes. Sometimes the man will flatly deny crying, even as he's doing so. There is a single exception: one single tear is allowed at the retirement ceremony of his favorite sporting icon. Austin had always been one to follow this belief, up until today that is.

Starr Records had dropped him and his dream was over. Nothing had ever felt so painful to him. Even when he'd been showing off in front of Ally in an attempt to impress her and had drunk that hot sauce through his nose, it hadn't been as painful as this. He felt as though someone was squeezing his heart whilst simultaneously punching him in the gut. Tears were running down his face pretty quickly now, and he was glad he was almost home. He just wanted to crawl into bed and stay there for the rest of his wondered briefly if this is what Dez felt like this morning when they'd left Lake City but he dismissed the thought quickly. There was no way he could compare the heart ache Dez was feeling to his own.

Austin soon rounded the corner and turned on to the street where he lived. There were kids playing in the street and he hated them for that. It seemed unfair that they got to be happy and care free whilst Austin himself had just lost his career. The blond moved quickly past the children, keeping his head down as he did so, not wanting them to catch the stream of tears running down his cheeks. If they saw him crying they'd never let him live it down. It was that the kids were mean, it was just what kids did.

It wasn't until Austin was in the house and part way up the stairs did the past twenty four hours come running back to him and the realisation of everything he and his friends had done hit him.

"Austin Monica Moon!"

Sighing Austin turned and trudged slowly back down the stairs. Whatever his mom and dad were going to say he may as well take it now whilst he was already down. "Yeah Mom?" He said as he walked into the living room, he paused when he saw only his mom. "Where's dad?"

"Palm Bay," Mimi replied folding her arms over he chest letting Austin know she was mad. "He left after work yesterday. He has a meeting today with the head of Matress Barn, their thinking of selling their company to us. Your father and I believe it would be a good investment."

"Mom, that's awesome!" Austin said attempting to muster some enthusiasm.

"Yes, it , that isn't important right now."

"It isn't?"

"No it's not. Would you like to explain to me why my car disappeared last night only to reappear this morning with a completely new paint job? And - Have you been crying?" Mimi unfolded her arms and stood up, moving around the comfy blue couch in the middle of the room and over to her son. "Honey, what happened?"

It was then that Austin crumpled once more. "Everythings over Mommy," He sobbed as she pulled him into her arms the way she always would when he was upset as a child.

"Shhh. Shhh. what d'you mean?" Mimi rubbed his back soothingly and cradled him to her chest. "What happened? Come on, let's sit down on the couch and talk about this."

Austin sniffed and trailed after his mom. The minute he didn't flop down onto the couch in his usual manner Mimi knew something was definitely wrong. "Everything is over. My career is over, Dez's parent's marriage is over, a-a-a-and Team Austin is over," His head fell over into his hands and he only cried harder at the mention of Team Austin.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down. What happened?" Mimi asked, a crease formed between her eyebrows as the concern became more evident in her features.

Between the tears, sobs, sniffing and hiccoughs Austins somehow managed to retell the events of the past twenty four hours to his mom. "A-a-a-and then I told them Team Austin was over. How could I do that? You should have seen Ally's face Mom, it was awful. I can't believe I did that."

"Austin, sweetie, calm down. Just listen to me for a minute, okay?" Mimi's voice was gentle and she leant over to brush Austin's soft blond locks out of his eyes, just like she did when he was a kid. "The thing with Dez, with his Dad, none of that is anything that you or Dez could have helped. It's unfortunate for Dez sure but what happened can't be changed by a physical force. Whatever happens will happen. Dez is going to be upset for a while but you can't work yourself up because of it. You need to be there for him when he's ready to talk."

Austin nodded, his full attention now on his mom's words of wisdom.

"I know you're upset about Starr Records dropping you, and you have every right to be but Austin, there will be other record labels. Even Ally said so."

At that Austin's tears only seemed to come back harder and with a vengeance. Part of him felt that perhaps he was being a bit dramatic but then he'd remember that he'd just cast aside his best friends and the tears would come flowing back. "Ally. Mom I screwed up so bad with her. Trish too."

"No you didn't. Ally's a smart girl, she knows you were upset."

"That doesn't make it okay that I yelled at her!"

"No, it doesn't but I'm sure if you just apologise then-"

"Yeah that's what I'll do!" Suddenly his sobs weren't quite so heavy and Austin was up on his feet ready to tackle the problem he had caused. "Apologise. I've got to apologise. I'll see you later Mom, I'm -"

"Oh no," Mimi shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing along wither her and she grabbed Austin by his shirt pulling him back down onto the couch beside him. "Where do you think you're going? You're grounded, you stole my car, remember?"

"But Mom!"

"No buts Austin. You're lucky I didn't call the police. You can apologise to your friends tomorrow, if you're good, until then I'd like your phone, laptop and myTAB to remain down here with me."

Austin's jaw dropped. He knew his mom was actually being pretty nice considering everything he'd done and he was glad his dad wasn't here to punish him instead because whilst his dad was an awesome guy, he was pretty strict when it came to breaking the rules. Austin imagined his dad would be even worse when it came to breaking laws... not that he ever planned on telling his dad that he'd broken several laws the previous night, but the thought of what his dad would do still scared him. His mom would only ground him and take away his means of communication, whereas his dad would probably do that and take his various musical instruments away! Which would be way worse.

"Fine," Austin grumbled as he reluctantly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dumped it on the coffee table. Sighing heavily Austin left his smirking mother, who was clearly happy with her new-found punishing powers, and dragged his feet up the stairs to his room.

On the bright side, at least if he was grounded he had plenty of time to sit and think about how he was going to make it up to his friends. If they still wanted to talk to him that is.

* * *

Ally sat at the piano in the practice room gnawing at a strand of her hair, her plans to kick the awful habit having been long since forgotten. She could hear her dad downstairs handling customers and bustling around the store, in fact at one point she thought he might have been whistling. Ally considered herself lucky, she knew Trish's parents had grounded her - that had surprised her, usually Trish's parents were seemingly lenient when it came to Trish's antics, maybe because they'd worked out years ago that when Trish wanted to do something, she'd do it whether everyone else liked it or not. Ally's dad on the other hand didn't even know, he thought she'd spent the night at Trish's house - which in all honesty was what she had planned to do anyway before everything had gotten so, out of hand.

Ally was a big girl and her reasons for chewing on her hair were not completely related to the lie she was living in not telling her dad where she had actually been all night. There was more to the story than that. Ally was chewing on her hair because she had just done something very stupid. Very, very stupid in fact. So stupid that it didn't even seem like the 'Ally' thing to have done.

She accepted her place at MUNY.


	25. Chapter 25

"Ally, sweetheart, don't you think you're being a little… dramatic, about this whole thing?"

The brunette stared in disbelief at her father. "I'm not the one who threw a hissy fit over nothing!" She snapped. Somewhere in her mind she knew that it wasn't nothing', she knew that getting dropped by Starr Records was heart breaking for Austin.

"But you are the one packing up her room and fleeing to New York…" Lester said tentatively. He had be watching his daughter run around throwing her clothes and various belongings into cardboard boxes for an hour now.

"I am not fleeing!" Ally dropped the shirt she had been folding into the box, not caring that it had landed in a crumpled mess on top of Larry the Laughing Lizard. "Team Austin is over Dad… and so is my dream."

"Honey," Lester moved slowly towards her, hoping to wrap her in a hug but the young girl was so explosive today he feared that even touching her arm would cause her to bite his head off. "Your dream isn't over."

"Yes it is!" Ally dodged her father's welcoming arms and moved over to her desk to sort through the plethora of music sheets and random song lyrics that lay there. "Team Austin was my dream! It became my dream and it's all over because Austin is such a – such a… DRAMA QUEEN!"

"He got dropped by his first record label, to Austin that's quite the set back –"

"So?! That doesn't excuse the way he treated me and Trish. Dez just got dropped by his father, HIS FATHER! And he's not running around acting like a brat," There was a niggling voice in the back of Ally's mind telling her she was being harsh, but Ally wasn't listening. "Austin chose to end Team Austin, not me, not Trish, not Dez, Austin. So now I'm doing something for myself. Something I want."

"Used to want," Lester sighed. He moved once again over to his daughter. Ally wasn't facing him, she had her back turned to him but he already knew that her eyes were about to overflow with tears. He knew from just listening to the thickness of her voice. He watched as she sifted frantically through the papers on her desk, her hands shaking violently as she did. "Ally, look at me."

Ally did not turn, however she did not fight him when he took a sheet of incomplete lyrics out of her hands and pulled her to his chest. It was then that Ally broke. She crumbled in her dad's arms and sobbed into her shirt like she used to do as a child after a particularly frightening nightmare.

"I know you're upset but this isn't the end Ally. Austin will come to his senses, and you guys will be back to writing songs again in no time. I know that you may have wanted to go to MUNY but that was before. This is now, and that's not your dream."

"I know," She sniffed tears still streaming down her cheeks. "But I have to do this. I have to do this, for me."  
Lester sighed. His words had fallen on deaf ears. "Okay…" Maybe with any luck she'd change her mind, hopefully before she arrived in New York. "Would you like some help packing?"

"No, I got this," Ally smiled weakly at him and wiped the snot from her nose. "Thanks Dad."

"Sure thing honey," Lester said ruffling her hair. He was glad she was no longer crying though he was disappointed that she hadn't listened to a word he had said.

* * *

Dez stared blankly at the ceiling, his eyes counting the cracks that longed to be painted over. He wondered briefly if the cracks resembled the state of his life but quickly shook the thought from his head when he realised he may have been getting too 'deep' about this.

He hoped Austin hadn't gotten into too much trouble with his parents, though he knew better than to expect no punishment for his best friend. His parents had grounded him for a month when he got a D on a test, he dreaded what kind of punishment the Moon's had invented for stealing and vandalising a car.

He felt Max stir at the bottom of the bed, the old dog twitching slightly in his sleep. Dez smiled. He envied his pet. Max had no cares, no worries beyond being fed and sleeping. Dez wished he could have that too. The way he used to. Everything had gotten so… messed up lately he didn't know what to do, other than lie to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling all day.

His phone, a gift from his parent's last Christmas, lay beside him on his bed. He'd received a text the day before from Trish, or rather an essay. Trish has explained everything that had happened in the time he'd been moping. She'd explained that Jimmy Starr was bankrupt (Dez had never liked Teen Rage), she'd explained how Austin had lashed out and then she had asked him to keep in touch.

Dez wasn't sure what she meant by this. Did she mean that she wanted him to keep her updated on the Austin situation? After all, the pop sensation was bound to call him eventually. Or did she mean that he should keep in touch in the way that old friends do when they all do their separate ways?

Secretly Dez prayed she meant the first meaning. He couldn't imagine his life without his friends. He couldn't imagine a day without goofing around with Austin, or teasing Ally or even arguing with Trish. He needed his friends. So, in the best interests of his already shredded nerves, he put thoughts of Team Austin's separation to the back of his mind. He couldn't deal with that right now. Not when he was having to deal with his family problems.

Problems. A matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome. The voice in his head, that reminded him oddly of Ally, said.

The teenager sighed. His Dad was gone, long gone and frankly Dez wasn't sure he wanted him back. Of course he loved his dad, he was his father after all but Dez just couldn't get over the betrayal and humiliation the man had brought upon him and his mother.

Dez groaned at the thought of his mother. Glancing towards the digital clock to his left, Dez pulled himself out of bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping dog and moved swiftly out of his bedroom. He needed to check on his mom.

When he had arrived home she had been crying. Not because she was worried about his whereabouts, she wasn't even aware he'd disappeared, but because she was still mourning the loss of her marriage. Dez hadn't known what to do. He'd stood awkwardly in the hallway, looking in through the doorway at the woman crying over the sink in the kitchen.

Perhaps somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he shouldn't have done what he did, but that didn't stop him. He stepped forward, over the threshold of the kitchen and towards his mom. It happened so fast he barely had time to process it. He told her. He told her everything he had seen and done in the past twenty four hours. It was an uncontrollable word vomit.

The worst part was that he hadn't waited for her to acknowledge him. She'd jumped startled by the sound of his voice resonating through their kitchen. Her eyes had been wide with shock though they were bloodshot and sore from the crying. His mom seemed to choke on her words as she attempted to respond to the harsh reality of his news.

Dez flinched at the memory repeating itself in his mind. He hated what he had done to his mom that night, the pain he'd caused her, the pain his father had caused her. It was heartless.

He was silent as he pushed her bedroom door open, peeking his head around it to make sure she was still there. In both the physical and mental sense. He was relieved to see her chest rising and falling steadily, her worn out eyes closed and her facial features more relaxed than they had been since Mr Worthy left. Dez closed the door softly so that he would not wake her up and set her off into another fit of heart broken sobs.

After quickly debating with himself whether he should return to the pit he was calling his room or at least attempt to return to normal, Dez knew what he had to do. His large feet padded lightly against the hardwood floor as he made his way into the kitchen and towards the refrigerator Dez wasn't sure what he was going to eat, in fact he wasn't really hungry at all but he knew had to eat at some point.

Once he had settled on a glass of milk and what was left of the packet of cookies he and Austin had shared three days ago, Dez carried his 'breakfast' outside onto the porch deciding to get his fisrt dose of fresh air in almost twenty four hours. He wasn't used to spending all his time indoors. Whilst there were times when Dez would spend hours in his room editing various videos that he had filmed or sit in his basement playing the latest video games online with Austin, Dez generally preffered being outdoors. That's why he liked Miami so much, everything was outside. Even the mall!

Dez had barely started his third cookie when he caught sight of a petite brunette walking hurriedly down the street towards him.

"Ally?"


	26. Chapter 26

"Hey Dez," Ally said offering a small wave accompanied by a smile. "How are you?"

Dez raised his eyebrows in an amused fashion. Ally could understand his amusement, for two people who had been close friends for over a year 'how are you' did seem kinda formal.

"I'm good, you?" The red head inquired as he bit into a cookie.

"Good, I guess," Ally shrugged.

They were both lying, and they both knew it too. Ally knew that Dez was not 'good', she'd been there when his father had dropped him and she had seen how heartbroken he had been afterwards, she knew he was not 'good'. Dez knew that Ally was not 'good' like she was pretending to be, he knew the young girl would be upset the moment he read Trish's text earlier that morning.

Ally sighed. "Dez, can I talk to you?"

"Ally, we're kinda already doing that," Dez replied in a tone that told her he thought that was the most obvious thing in the world. Regardless he shuffled up from he's seat on the porch steps as if to make room for her, and offered her a cookie from the packet in his hand.

Ally smiled gratefully and happily took a cookie from her friend. "Trish told me she text you."

Dez nodded in confirmation. He wasn't looking at her, his eyes were staring off across the street though he wasn't looking at anything in particular. Ally found his behaviour to be odd, though she accepted it because despite not being able to understand the inner turmoil Dez must have been feeling she could appreciate that he was hurting and so was not acting like his usual energetic self.

"So she told you what happened yesterday? After you left."

"Yeah, I'm surprised she managed to write it all out. You know, since Trish is so lazy," Dez glanced over at the girl beside him a small humorous smile playing on his lips. Ally knew he was trying to inject some normality into the conversation, the usual jokes that could usually be found in a conversation with the redhead, but it wasn't the same, and Ally was scared it never would be.

"Yeah," Ally chuckled slightly.

"That isn't all you came to talk to me about, is it?" Dez said. Although it was a question it came out as more of a statement.

Ally dared not look at him and instead chose to stare at her hands in her lap. When she had woken up that morning Ally had not known why she wanted to go see Dez, she just knew she had to. It was weird and difficult to explain. Her friendship with Dez was not like her friendship with Trish, nor was it like her friendship with Austin.

Trish was her best friend, she could tell her anything and she knew that Trish would never judge her severely for anything she did. Ally had known Trish for as long as she could remember. Over the years they'd had their fair share of arguments and disagreements but that was to be expected. Deep in her heart, Ally knew that Trish would do anything for her, just as she would for Trish. What she had to discuss today however was not something that could be discussed with Trish, not yet anyway.

Then there was Austin. Her partner. Much like her friendship with Trish, Ally knew she could trust Austin with anything and that she could always count on him to be there when she needed him. Or at least, she thought she did.

The previous days events had played over and over again in her head like a broken record. No matter what she did to distract herself she couldn't take away the hurt that had plagued her since Austin had said those awful words back in the Starr Records lobby. It was those events that had led her to where she was now. Sat on Dez's front porch sharing chocolate chip-cookies.

Ally smiled as she thought of her friendship with Dez. It was unlike her friendships with either Trish or Austin. Ally could trust Dez with anything, no matter how silly and she knew he would not tell. Yes, he had taken a peak into her book on more than one occasion but he had never, ever spoken a word of what he had read within it. There were no expectations with Dez, at least not when it was just the two of them. With Trish she was expected to be her friend's moral compass or to help her with work when her friend couldn't be bothered. With Austin she was expected to have the 'best' songs written and ready for him to perform when he needed them, and then of course there was the expectation that she was not supposed to have feelings for him other than friendship, yet she did. Stronger feelings than she cared to admit, especially after yesterday. With Dez she could just be.

"I got a letter from MUNY, again."

Dez nodded, hinting for her to continue.

"I accepted."

For the first time all morning Dez turned to look at her. To really look at her. His grey-blue eyes piercing her skin and taking in every inch of her. He gaze left her feeling naked almost. It was like he could see everything. Her thoughts, her dreams, her wishes, even her darkest secrets. In that moment it was like he knew it all. Though she knew that this was impossible. The seriousness in his eyes stunned her, it stunned her more than any of his behaviour in the past week. Though this time she did not mind, this time she was thankful.

It seemed like an eternity before he spoke. "Is that what you want?"

Ally shrugged and turned her gaze to the sky. "I thought so, but now..."

"You think you've changed your mind?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Dez, do you remember that time when we went to the amusement park and there was that new ride -"

"The Vortex! Man, I loved that ride!" Dez grinned, pumping his fist slightly.

Ally giggled at her friend's sudden burst of normality, normality for Dez anyway. "Yeah, and you were gonna go on it but -"

Dez seemed to blush at this point. His usually pale, freckled skin became tinged with pink across his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand in the way he always did when he was embarrassed or uncomfortable. "I changed my mind because you, Trish and Austin didn't want to go on it."

"Exactly. Well that situation is kinda like my one now."

"So, you're gonna change your mind and go on it as long as Austin spots a hot girl and Trish and I get into a fight about who can go without vomiting the longest?" Dez asked, confusion laced with his words.

"What? No. Dez that makes no sense," Ally laughed at the boy next to her. He was definitely becoming more and more 'Dez-y' by the minute. "I meant that, like you and the Vortex, I'm not sure I can go without my friends. New York is a scary place, just like The Vortex was a scary ride."

Dez shrugged off her comment as his cheeks flushed pink once more. "It wasn't that scary... the fifth time."

"Whatever, my point is that I don't want to leave Miami and you guys behind, no matter how much of a jerk Austin is behaving like at the moment."

"So why did you accept in the first place?" Dez asked as he finished off the last of the cookies. "Or maybe I should say second place, since you already rejected them once."

"I don't know," Ally groaned frustrated. "I was angry at the way Austin had treated me and Trish, and I was upset because Team Austin was over. I figured that if I went to MUNY then I could rekindle my old dream and be happy that way, but the more I think about it the less I want to leave. Maybe I even considered it to be my revenge."

"Revenge?"

"You weren't there Dez, you don't get it. Austin was a total jerk yesterday. He was rude and insensitive, and besides it was his decision to end Team Austin so why should I care about him or his music career anymore, right? So I thought that if I went away to MUNY I could achieve my old dream or I could get over my stage fright and perform or something, I don't know. At the time it made sense. Dez, what am I gonna do?"

The red head shrugged. "You could go to MUNY and achieve this supposed 'dream' you keep mentioning, or you could rejected the MUNY offer, stay here and work things out with Austin."

"He made it pretty clear that he was done with us..."

"Are you sure?" Dez turned to look at her again. His eyes weren't quite so intense now, they reminded her of the ocean on a partially cloudy day. Calm,, though not without their usual sparkle of liveliness. "I've known Austin a long time, and if anything he sounds upset. Which is to be expected since he did just get dropped by a major record label and therefore has been temporarily setback on his dream."

"He's entitled to be upset, I know that but that doesn't excuse his behaviour. He hasn't even tried to apologise."

"Maybe because he had his phone taken off him?" Dez suggested. "The Moon's are pretty strict anyway, I can't imagine what kind of punishment Austin got for the whole Lake City fiasco."

"That's not the only thing Dez," Ally added before she had chance to think. At the raising of his eyebrows in curiosity Ally knew she had to explain. "Austin and I kissed."

Dez grinned. "Yes! Team Ally!"

The brunette narrowed her eyes. Whilst this had been the reaction she had expected from Dez, he was not nearly as surprised as she had anticipated. "You knew! He told you didn't he? Austin told you we kissed and you didn't say anything?"

"I kinda had some other stuff on my mind," Dez said bitterly.

Ally froze before stumbling over her words. "Dez, I'm - I'm sorry. I for-forgot and, um -"

"Ally it's fine," Dez smiled softly back at her, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"But -"

"No," He shook his head and then retracted his hand, placing it back in his lap. "Austin showed up at my house after 'it' happened. He was freaking out because he thought you'd hate him."

"Why would I hate him?"

"Because he kissed you, ruined things for you and Elliot, and told you the entire thing was a mistake," Dez rattled off Austin's worries from memory. "He paced so much I'm sure his footprints are permanently stepped into my carpet."

"I don't care that he ruined things with Elliot. I'm actually kinda... glad," Ally admitted for the first time to someone who wasn't her reflection. "What else did he say?"

"I think that's something you need to talk to Austin about," Dez said, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"I can't do that. He hates me."

Dez rolled his eyes. "He doesn't hate you. He hates what happened yesterday. He lo - Look, just go to Austin's house and talk to him about it, okay? I promise everything will be fine. Forget about MUNY until you talk to Austin."

Ally nodded firmly before jumping to her feet. "You know what Dez? You're right. I need to talk to Austin. You're probably right. He's just upset because of what happened yesterday and he hasn't called because he's grounded. I'll just go over and see him. I'll explain the situation to his parents and then they'll let me see him." It was a matter of seconds before Ally was running back to the porch steps with a lock of hair jammed in her mouth. "But what if we've got this all wrong and I admit I like him and he gets all creeped out or he laughs?"

"Ally, when are you and Austin going to stop pretending that what you two have is never ending?" Dez chuckled.

"Was that from one of your romance movies?" Ally teased. "I'm pretty sure that's a reference to the Timid Heart."

"Stop deflecting - and that there was a reference to one of my mom's magazines," Dez grinned. "You and Austin, you were meant for each other. Whether that be as soul mates, best friends or music partners, you were made for each other."


	27. Chapter 27

When you're bored what do you do?

When Austin Moon was bored he liked to play his guitar and sing meaningless lyrics which made no sense. When Austin Moon was bored he liked to hang out with his best friends, Ally, Trish and Dez. When Austin Moon was bored he sometimes liked to search random stuff on Zaplook or watch hilarious cat videos on MyTube.

Unfortunately for Austin Moon he couldn't do any of these things. He couldn't waste hours away on the internet because he had no way of doing so, his cell phone, myTAB and laptop had all been locked away in a cupboard downstairs as part of his punishment for running off to Lake City with his friends. Austin couldn't play his guitar either because even the thought of doing so right now made him ache somewhere deep inside as the memory of being cut from his first record label was still too fresh. Finally, Austin couldn't hang out with his friends not only because he was grounded, but also because he had royally screwed up his friendships.

There was no way Ally or Trish would forgive him after the way he spoke to them in the Starr Records lobby. Ally would be hurt and Trish had been known to hold a grudge. Part of Austin hoped that perhaps Dez may still be his friend, after all it had never mattered how bad an argument the duo had they had always remained friends in the end. However, if Trish and Ally got there first maybe Dez would side with them. The thought didn't make Austin feel any better about what had gone down that day. In fact it made him feel worse.

It had been nearly eighteen hours since Austin had spoken to any of his friends and he was fearful that if he left his apologies any longer they would never speak to him again. When he closed his eyes he could still see the look of utter betrayal plastered on Ally's face, the image was tattooed to every part of his mind. And that sucked.

The boredom really was beginning to tear the young blond apart. He just wanted to do something, anything. When he had complained at breakfast to his mom over pancakes this earlier that morning she had told him to do some extra studying for school or to read a book. There was no way Austin could study read even if he wanted to, not when his mind was so occupied with throwing painful thoughts at him. He had barely managed to keep it together while brushing his hair that morning after his mom had chewed him out for the state of his bed-head. Ally had hair!

According to the digital clock to his left he had precisely four hours until his mom had said she would let up on his punishment and allow him out of the house to go apologise profusely to his friends. Austin couldn't take it! Three hours might as well be an eternity for him. Accompanied with the crippling guilt and immense boredom Austin was going out of his mind.

Every once in a while he would glance toward the window on his right. Austin had gotten in trouble for sneaking out before, only once but it had been enough to put him off for a while, at least while he was grounded anyway. It wasn't like Austin was a total angel, sometimes he would sneak out in the dead of night to go hang out with his friends – like that time they caught the Alphabet Bandit or when they were waiting for 'Miami H8er Girl' to show up – other times he just liked to exit the house via his bedroom window, it looked cool and made him feel pretty badass.

The option of escaping through the window to apologise to his friends before his privileges were reinstated had run through his mind several times and was cropping up more frequently the longer he spent led on his bed twiddling his thumbs. However, Austin knew that if he did sneak out and his mom found out she would kill him, and then bring him back from the dead just to punish him again. He was torn. He could either obey his mom's ruling and wait for three o'clock to roll around but Austin feared that if he left it any longer his friends, if he could still call them that, would not accept his apologies. Or alternatively Austin could climb out of the window, sprint in the direction of the mall, pray Ally was working today, get down on his knees and beg for her forgiveness, all the while hoping that his mom did not find out he was gone.

There was only one thing to do.

* * *

By the time Austin had gotten to Sonic Boom he was breathing heavily and his clothes were clinging to his skin sticky with sweat. His jeans were stained by grass stains where he had slid across his neighbour's lawn in his plight to get to the mall in record timing. There were small bits of twig and leaf decorating his hair like Christmas ornaments on a wreath from where an overly friendly dog had jumped at him, knocking him into a bush, and his sneakers held a slight orange tinge to the faded black material that encased his feet from where he'd crashed into an old woman carrying a cup of take-out tomato soup from Miss Suzy's place.

He was battered and bruised, and had nearly died racing through the mall parking lot to get there but Austin had made it outside Sonic Boom in record timing. His heart beat was swift in his chest and not just because it was struggling to pump blood throughout his body after his sprint. The thought of apologising to Ally and her rejecting him made him feel nauseous and almost made him dart away from the store to the nearest public bathroom. The abuse his ribcage was receiving from the heavy beat of his heart made him feel more nervous than before. What if he panicked mid-apology and had a heart attack or something? He felt light headed at the thought and could feel his body swaying on his feet like the Empire State building in high winds.

No. It didn't matter how sick he was suddenly feeling, or about how dizzy his head was or even if his legs felt like they were about to drop off at any second due to his running. He would apologise to Ally, even if he had to crawl to her dragging himself along by his elbows.

Taking a cautious and wobbly step forward Austin entered Sonic Boom, his eyes scanning the room wildly looking for the pretty brunette who had captured his heart. He couldn't see her. There was an old lady over by the piano, playing a soft delicate melody Austin had never heard before. There was a small boy and his mom looking at the violins, the boy looked highly unimpressed though the mom was talking enthusiastically to the bored looking kid next to her. There were a handful of people rifling through the extensive CD collection to his left. So many people and yet none of them were Ally.

It was then that his eyes caught sight of the door to the practice room. That had to be where Ally was! Austin's eyes were alight with excitement though his face was a little green with nervous nausea, though ignoring that Austin hurried towards the stairs. His hands grasped the cool steel hand rails and he skipped up the stairs two at a time, the ache in his legs overwhelmed by his need to see Ally.

As he arrived directly outside the room, his hand grazing the door handle, Austin paused. He couldn't hear anything from inside. All the noise was coming from below him on the shop floor beneath. Austin pressed an ear gently against the wooden door that offered him so much promise yet so much misfortune at the same time.

Could he hear voices?

He hoped not. The thought of apologising to Ally whilst Trish was there scared him. Trish held a grudge and would definitely influence Ally's decision. Maybe he should have apologised to Trish first, then maybe Ally would be more likely to forgive him.

Taking a deep breath Austin gripped the door handle in his hand and pushed the door open, surprising himself at the unnecessary amount of force he had exerted. As the door swung open his stomach began churning and the sickness he had been feeling at the thought of seeing Ally overwhelmed him. He barely had time to glance and Ally and Elliot(?) before he found himself lurching towards the trashcan beside the sound deck and emptying the contents of his stomach into it.

"Oh my gosh Austin are you okay?" He heard Ally say from the piano. Her voice was filled with concern. "Here let me help you."

Austin couldn't look at her but he knew she was worried about him. He could hear it in her voice and by the sound of her footsteps on the floor moving closer to him urgently. Though his head was still very much inside the plastic bucket cradled in his arms he knew she was beside him. He could feel the warmth radiating from her body. The blond may have dwelled on the moment of care a little longer had he not been dry heaving into the trashcan.

"Austin?" Ally's hand was now on his back rubbing soothing circles as Austin's body convulsed erratically as he continued to vomit.

"I'm okay," Austin replied breathlessly as he adjusted his position to rest against the cool metal legs of the table beside him. Ally had moved to crouch in front of him, making sure to avoid the puke infested trashcan as she did so.

"Austin? What are you doing here? You're sick. I'll call your mom."

"No!" Ally could not call his mom, not only would she kill him for breaking the rule and sneaking out whilst grounded, she would ruin his chance to apologise to the concerned brunette before him.

Austin was taking Ally's concern as a good thing. It showed that she still cared, if she still cared then that meant their friendship had fallen into total disrepair. It meant that he had a chance, that he could get his best friends back.

"You're sick, you need to go home and rest," Ally frowned, her voice stern like a teachers.

"Yeah man, Ally's right. You should listen to her, she's a smart girl."

For the first time since he had arrived Austin had finally stopped to notice Elliot, who was currently perched on Austin's side of the piano bench. Was Ally writing songs without him? With Elliot no less!

"I know she's smart," Austin said through gritted teeth. "She's the smartest girl I know."

Austin knew it was wrong to be treating Elliot like dirt, especially since the guy hadn't done anything wrong, but he was stealing his Ally! Did the kiss Elliot had witnessed between Austin and Ally not give him any clue that if anyone was going to be dating Ally it was Austin. The guy could not take a hint.

The faint blush that had appeared on Ally's cheeks made Austin smile inwardly to himself, it told him that she felt flattered by his comment. Perhaps this meant that she had already forgiven him, after all Ally was never one to hold a grudge, especially against him. Already Austin could feel his nausea subsiding.

The best part for Austin however, had to be the look on Elliot's face when Ally had blushed as _his_ comment, not Elliot's. In fact when Elliot's face turned up in distaste like it had at Austin's comment, the boy really did look quite ugly and for a brief moment did not look like the total hunk everyone seemed to paint him as.

"Austin I really think you should call your mom to pick you up. You're not well," Ally said, interrupting Austin's thoughts of disdain.

The blond ran a hand through his tangled hair, despite brushing it this morning his golden locks had been thrown into disarray by the multiple twigs and leaves that had gotten caught in it when he had fallen into a bush on his way to Sonic Boom.

"I can't," He sighed heavily. "I haven't got my phone."

"You can use mine if you want," Elliot offered, holding the slim myPhone out to Austin but only earning a glare as a response.

"No thanks," Austin grumbled. Couldn't this guy give him two minutes alone with Ally?

"Look, I'll use the store phone downstairs. I'll be right back," Ally moved to get up but was pulled back by Austin.

"No! Don't go! I um…" The blond struggled to come up with an excuse to keep her there with him. He wished more than anything that he could just apologise to her, or rather that he could go back in time and stop himself from saying those hurtful things. Unfortunately, his pride was at hand here and he could not apologise to Ally in front of Elliot. There was no way. If Elliot thought that he and Ally were not on good terms then he might take that as a sign that he had a chance with Ally, which he didn't because there was no way in Miami that Austin was going to let that happen. He'd rather have all his hair fall out.

Thankfully Austin did not need to worry about making up an elaborate excuse to stop Ally from calling his mom because Elliot saved him. Frankly, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Look, Als," Austin fought really hard with himself not to get up and smack Elliot for using his nickname for _his _Ally. "I've gotta go, I have to get home in time for dinner. I'll see you later."

Austin's eyes followed the handsome brunette across the room and out of the door; he thought he could breathe easily once Elliot was no longer sat in _his_ place. Unfortunately for Austin, he was not that lucky. Just as Elliot was about to close the door behind him, he turned back to give Ally a bashful smile.

"Where are my manners?" Elliot moved forward towards Ally who was still crouched on the floor with Austin, and pulled her up gently. He then proceeded to wrap his muscular arms around her tiny frame and engulf her in a warm embrace; much like Austin used to do before he went and screwed everything up.

"Bye Elliot," Ally smiled warmly as Elliot released her.

"Bye Allycat," With one final wave, Elliot was gone, and Austin couldn't have been happier, that is until Ally turned her gaze on him. The short brunette had one hand planted on each of her hips and was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Can I call your mom now?" Her voice was less caring now, though maybe that was because he had finally stopped throwing up, or maybe, even though he didn't want to accept it, she hated him. Perhaps the whole 'caring' and 'concerned' act was just a façade she put on in front of Elliot. Maybe she didn't want lover boy to see her angry side, her bad side, her 'stray kitty' side.

"Ally, I –" Austin moved to get up from his seat on the floor which was quickly becoming uncomfortable. He no longer felt ill; it had just been a side effect of his nerves. Now Elliot was gone he felt calm, or calmer than before anyway. It was just him and Ally, nobody else. Just the way he liked it.

"No Austin. I don't have time for this," Ally said, she couldn't look at him. Her usually warm and loving eyes would not meet his, instead choosing to focus on the wall behind his head. Her arms were now folded over her chest. Austin could vaguely remembering hearing something in school about people crossing their arms. He could hear Mr Jelley's voice in his head, telling him and the rest of the class that people fold their arms together across their chests as an attempt to put a barrier between them and someone or something that they do not like. Did that mean Ally definitely didn't like him?

"Ally, please. I'm sorry!" Austin made a move to reach out to her, to pull her to him but missed as she dodged to her left. Rejection aside, the blond was not about to give up on a friendship that meant so much to him. "I'm sorry," He repeated. "I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean it, I didn't mean any of what I said that day. I was upset, I was angry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you and Trish."

"No you shouldn't have," Ally frowned, her brown eyes finally connecting with his. "Austin, I know that you want to apologise and for things to go back to normal, but they can't –"

"No, Ally! Please, I can make things better. I can fix this. Aren't you always telling me and Dez that we can do whatever we want as long as we work for it? Why don't you just take your own advice for once?"

"That's not what I meant," Ally sighed, walking over to the piano bench, her feet heavy and her eyes downcast. "You're my best friend Austin, you know that, right?"

"Sure," He wasn't really sure where Ally was going with this, but if it meant that she wasn't going to yell at him then he'd take it. "And you're mine, which is why I feel so awful about what went down yesterday. I honestly never meant for that to happen. It was dumb and childish and –"

"Those are two of the things I love about you though," A smile finally graced the young girl's lips as she watched him. "You're dumb and childish, but that's what makes you so fun and loving. Austin, what happened yesterday upset me but after talking to my dad and my mom about it I realise that these things happen."

"Exactly!" Austin could feel the muscles in his face twisting his lips upwards into a grin. This whole apologising thing wasn't as scary as he thought. He needn't have worried. "Record labels come and go, but our friendship, this right here," He gestured between his own body and Ally's as he sat down on the piano bench next to her. "This kind of thing only happens once in a lifetime, I don't want to lose that."

Ally bit her lip. For a moment Austin thought that she might have been biting back a smile, he was wrong. Ally was biting back tears.

"Whoa! I didn't mean to make you cry," Austin said, his eyes panicked as he rushed to wipe away a stray tear that had escaped from Ally's big brown eyes. Her skin was soft under his thumb and he fought hard with himself not to kiss her right there and then. Now was not the time for that.

"No it's not that," Ally sniffed, smiling weakly at him. "It's just… oh Austin, I've done something awful."

"What? It can't be that bad," Austin's voice was hopeful. Ally was a good girl, she would never do anything bad, it just wasn't in her nature. Though Austin couldn't ignore the niggling feeling within him that told him he was wrong.

Ally took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Whilst doing so Austin took care to look over her dainty features. The soft, purity of her skin. Her small button nose. Her chocolate brown hair that cascaded down her back as it got longer. Her plump pink lips that he desperately wanted to kiss. With her eyes closed and her breathing even Ally looked entirely peaceful, it was an odd contrast to the Ally he usually saw. The tranquil girl he saw before him looked so different to the busy, stressed out teenager he often saw racing around Sonic Boom attending to customers.

It took all of Austin's self-control not to jump in shock when her eyes suddenly sprung open, revealing her brown orbs to him. Ally didn't need to know he'd be staring. No one needed to know.

"I accepted my place at MUNY."

Ally's voice was calm and unwavering, and her eyes were scanning Austin's face, looking for something, anything, a sign of emotion. Emotion he could not show. He felt numb. It was like she'd just dropped a nuclear missile on him.

"Oh."


	28. Chapter 28

"Oh."

Was that really all he could say?

Ally was still trying to bite back tears. This was Austin, she never had a problem with crying in front of him before but right now she couldn't break. Not after what happened at Starr Records. Ally forgave him, of course she did. She knew he was upset and he had ran there, whilst sick, to make it up to her. It was useless holding a grudge, it was Austin, she could never hold a grudge against him.

"That's great news Ally!"

The brunette blinked, as if doing a double take. "What?"

"MUNY, it's great news. It's your dream after all," The smile on Austin's face was so wide Ally was sure it hurt to keep it up. It wasn't a genuine smile, it was a false, fake, a façade. His real smile was so much brighter than that and so much warmer, it was everything the smile that was currently eating his face was not. "I should probably get going. I'll see you Ally," His voice cracked as he spoke.

"Stop lying Austin," Ally tugged at the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him back down on to the bench. "You're not happy about this."

The young rockstar looked ready to lie again but seemed to think better of it. "No I'm not. You're leaving, again. I thought the first time was bad, this is worse."

"I don't want to leave," Ally explained. "I accepted the scholarship when I was mad at you."

It wasn't like Austin could say anything to argue against her. When Ally was upset she just changed her life path, when Austin was upset he lashed out at his friends and family. His behaviour was considerably worse but at least Austin could make up for his behaviour, how could Ally turn this around again? She'd already declined MUNY once before. What if this was her third chance at her dream? If she gave up on it again now she'd never get it back.

"I don't want you to leave either."

The two didn't speak for some time. They just sat in silence, both staring at the ivory piano keys in front of them as if the old piano itself would give them the answer.

"When do you leave?"

Austin's voice broke the silence, startling Ally somewhat. She felt like Bambi and his voice was the gunshot. Though unlike the sound of a bullet being fired from a gun Ally actually liked the sound of Austin's voice, it carried a peppy melody that occasionally made her swoon like a fangirl at one of his concerts.

"Not yet. Two weeks, I think. Not long."

"Oh…"

"Yeah."

More silence. The silence was heavy, like it was somehow stealing all of the oxygen from the room and making Ally's chest constrict uncomfortably.

"What if you just go for a semester?" Austin suggested his eyes brighter than they were before. His sunshine smile was back and the happiness his voice was projecting told her that he felt his idea was on par with the cure for baldness or the recipe for no-calorie mayonnaise. That good.

"Hmm?"

"Think about it," Austin swiveled on the bench, turning so that his body faced hers. "If you go for only one semester then you can come home and say that you tried but you were homesick. Ally, it's perfect."

Austin did have a point. If she went for one semester she could be back in Miami by Christmas with the pretense of being homesick. Not only that she would have gained valuable experience from her one semester. "Austin, you're a genius!" She beamed at the blond before throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him close. "Ahh! Trish is going to be so excited and Dez. Yay! Yay! Yay!"

Austin chuckled along with her, enjoying the embrace. "Plus it's only one semester so it's not like you'll miss anything here. Well, other than me, Trish and Dez," He grinned cockily.

"Austin Monica Moon, you ego maniac," Ally shoved him playfully.

Her friend was right, it was only one semester and then she'd be back. There was nothing to worry about.

"What about you?" Ally asked, suddenly remembering that Austin had his own set of problems to be dealing with. Problems that had nearly shattered every piece of their precious friendship.

Austin shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still upset about yesterday but there's something that is more important to me right now."

"What's that?"

"My friends," He smiled crookedly at her, his eyes twinkling as he did so. "Ally, I know yesterday was bad, for both of us. I shouldn't have talked to you, or Trish, that way. Neither of you deserve it. Maybe it's too soon to be asking but Ally Dawson, will you –"

Ally could feel her heart picking up pace in her chest, she didn't care that one of her vital organs was currently abusing her rib-cage in a painfully violent manner. She didn't care that her hands were now shaking with excitement. Heck! She didn't even care that yesterday she had firmly believed that she and Austin would never be friends again. No, the most important thing right now was that Austin was going to ask her to be his girlfriend. It was going to be fantastic. A little inconvenient because she was leaving in two weeks to New York City but wonderful nonetheless. It was the moment she had waited for since he'd pressed his lips to hers the day before the road trip. Ally had to clench her teeth together to stop a small girlish squeal escaping her. Now was not the time to make an idiot out of herself.

"Be my partner again?"

Ally's jaw dropped, but she quickly brought it back up, not wanting Austin to sense her disappointment. Maybe it was for the best. It was too soon after their argument for them to get together, they needed time for the wounds to heal. Maybe once she got back from New York they could attempt a relationship. Maybe.

Despite her sadness at Austin's lack of asking her on a date, Ally was still happy that he had asked her to be his partner again. When the blond had announced the end of Team Austin the day before, Ally had been more than a little heartbroken, she had been devastated.

"Of course I'll be your partner again Austin," Ally nodded enthusiastically. "And I'm sure Trish and Dez will be just as happy as I am that Team Austin is back together."

"We were only apart for one day," Austin laughed. "And I promise this time will be the last time we have to get back together, because from now on our friendship comes first. Record labels like Starr Records are overrated anyway; all I need is Team Austin to get me where I want to go."

Ally couldn't help but giggle at his cheesy monologue but it warmed her heart no less. "You're only telling yourself this to make the whole Jimmy thing hurt a less, right?"

"Maybe just a little," Austin admitted sheepishly. "But I meant what I said, I want you guys in my life forever. You mean more to me than being signed ever did."

"Thanks Austin."

The pair hugged once more before finally letting go, Ally smiling excitedly and Austin smiling along with her.

"If it's not too soon, maybe you'd like to get back up on stage?" Ally asked, her delicate hands moving swiftly to the piano keys.

Austin cocked his head questioningly at her and Ally couldn't help but feel that if he'd hung his tongue out of his mouth he would have look exactly like a puppy. It was kind of adorable, not that she planned on telling him that.

"The library is having its annual fundraiser, and I figured that maybe you could perform at it. It's for charity so you wouldn't get paid or anything but it would be good publicity for you and –"

"Ally," Austin laughed. "You don't need to convince me, I'll do it. It could be fun."

"Awesome!" Ally grinned, further excitement blazing through her. Everything was finally falling into place. "If you're not busy now we could work on a new song for your performance? I've already got the melody down I just need –"

"As much as I love your excitement Als," Austin interrupted placing a hand over hers to stop her from pressing down on the piano keys. "I shouldn't be here right now."

"Huh?"

"I kinda snuck out to come and see you, my mom grounded me for running off to Lake City so I've gotta get home before she notices I'm gone."

Ally nodded in understanding, her brown curls bouncing on her shoulders as she did so. "Okay, I'll call you later."

Austin beamed at this. "Sure. See ya later Allycat."

And then he did something so unexpected, so surprising, and so perfect that Ally was surprised she didn't melt into a puddle on the floor. He kissed her cheek.

* * *

When Ally called Trish at work that afternoon to announce she had forgiven Austin the young Latina couldn't help but feel a little torn about the situation. Of course Trish was happy that all was forgiven between Austin and Ally, it had many positives and Trish loved Austin like a brother but at the same time, Trish felt somewhat agitated by Ally's easy forgiveness. What Austin had said to them had been wrong, couldn't Ally see that? Though maybe he had gone to see Ally, gotten down on his knees and begged her for forgiveness. Maybe he had confessed that he was wrong and pleaded with her to be his friend and partner again.

At least that's what Trent did to her.

Ever since Trish had dumped Trent after he hit her the boy hadn't left her alone. Her phone had been plagued with messages and texts, her laptop attacked with emails and IMs. He'd even had the audacity to come to her house and demand to speak to her.

Trish hadn't expected to see Trent waiting for her on her front lawn when she had walked home from Starr Records. At the time Trish had been grumbling loudly to herself in Spanish, her anger towards Austin yesterday afternoon had been running wild, she'd even kicked over a trashcan in her fierce temper. Managing Austin had been the best job she'd ever had, it was the only job she'd ever really taken an interest in and then he'd gone and fired her, and Ally, and Dez all at the same time with use of only four words.

Trish had been so startled by the sight of Trent lounging on the freshly cut grass outside her home she had stumbled over the curb and almost face planted the ground.

"Trent what are you doing here?" Her voice wavered as she spoke, though not because seeing Trent scared or upset her. Her voice wavered because she had only just notice the few tears that had slipped from her eyes and down her cheeks.

"I wanted to talk to you baby," Trent's voice was smooth like chocolate and he had lifted a calloused thumb to wipe the tears from her face but Trish flinched away from him, not wanting him anywhere near her let alone touching her. Trent didn't seem to notice this and continued talking. "Where have you been? I've missed you."

"I broke up with you yesterday," Trish said, her voice was hard and her face set in a glare. "Now get out of here before I call the cops."

"Why would you do that?" Trent asked, following her up the driveway and towards the house. "I'm not doing anything wrong."

"Aside from hitting me?" Trish's voice oozed with sarcasm as she fumbled with her house keys, struggling to unlock the door. "And if that doesn't work for you, you're also trespassing. Now get out."

"Trish, baby, boo," Trent's nicknames all hit her with the force of a dagger to the heart. "Please don't do this. I'm sorry. I love you."

Trish could feel the bile rising up in her throat. "No Trent. Leave." With that final word Trish had slammed the door in his face, making sure to lock it behind her. There was no way she was letting him into her house, especially not after she had let him into her heart and he had broken it.

The next morning Trish had awoken to the sound of voices in the kitchen. It was an unusual occurrence in the De La Rosa household. Most days Mr De La Rosa left for work early and didn't return until late, and her mother would follow suit, leaving not long after her husband though she was usually home by the time Trish and JJ returned from school.

It was now nearing on noon; Trish had school the next day and so had slept in to catch up on the sleep she had missed out on during her trip to Lake City. That and she didn't have work until two. Trish didn't need to be a genius to know that she should have been alone in the house. She'd gotten up to pee at the same time her dad had left the house, and JJ had school today, something Trish had made fun of him for. JJ was still in elementary school so did not have the benefits Trish did from bug infestation and so did not get the extra-long weekend she did.

As Trish's feet padded against the plush carpet in the hallway and her hands rubbed sleepy dust out of her eyes, Trish's heart stopped. She should have been the only person in the house, so why were there people downstairs talking? The clank of plates and the sound of water running told her that the voices were coming from the kitchen.

Trish moved cautiously down the stairs and through the hallway. It was only when she saw her mother's corkscrew curls so like her own could she breathe easily. Mrs De La Rosa was leant over the kitchen sink scrubbing at a plate JJ had undoubtedly abandoned earlier that morning. At first Trish thought her mother had lost her mind and was talking to herself, it wasn't until her ears caught wind of a masculine voice did she realise her mother had company.

Sat at the island in the centre of the kitchen was Trent. Suddenly Trish didn't feel quite so at ease, she wanted to run as fast as her short legs could take her back up to the safety of her room but she couldn't. Her feet were rooted to the ground preventing her from making any sudden movements.

Mrs De La Rosa finished wiping the ceramic plate in her hand and turned around to talk to Trent, her eyes locking with Trish on the way. A large smile spread across her mother's lips and she waved her arms to welcome her in. "Mi hija! ¡Adelante! ¡Adelante! Why did you not tell me you had such a handsome boyfriend?" Mrs De La Rosa smiled warmly at Trent a she wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders, crushing her daughter to her body.

"I didn't tell you because he's not my boyfriend, mama," Trish said, gently pushing her mother away.

"But Trent said –"

"Well Trent lied," Trish sent a venomous scowl in Trent's direction, though it went unnoticed by the teenager who was eating a bowl of her mother's fruit salad, the kind she always made for family functions.

"Buy why would he lie mi hija? He's such a wonderful boy," Mrs De La Rosa's eyes were full of warmth towards the boy. This was something Trish struggled to understand, her mother barely knew the boy.  
"Trish just doesn't want anyone knowing about our relationship right now," Trent responded, and it took every fibre of Trish's being not to hit him. "You know how she gets."

To add to Trish's initial shock, Mrs De La Rosa nodded in agreement with Trent. "Ah yes, she's always been this way. Ever since she was a little girl and she –"

"Mom! Can you not?" Trish snapped, she in no way wanted her mom divulging stories of her embarrassing past to a boy she wanted nothing more than to hit with a truck.

Trish's pleading did not seem to stop Mrs De La Rosa as she continued on with her tale and Trent continued to evilly at her. Trish was not staying there any longer, with a animalistic growl she turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs to return to her room.

On a normal day it took Trish an hour at the least to prepare herself for the day ahead, and then an extra thirty minutes on her hair. Today Trish did not care. The Latina grabbed whatever clothes she could find and didn't even consider doing anything to her hair. Within ten minutes she was out of the house and on her way to work, not caring that she had left her mother alone with Trent in her wake. For the first time in her life Trish actually wanted to work, maybe that would take her mind off today's events.


End file.
